The Sorceress's Apprentice
by TakerFoxx
Summary: Defeated, broken, and heavily reduced in power, the once infamous Madam Mima is now a shadow of her former self. Fortunately, she has found a way to regain what she has lost, and needs only the life of an innocent child to make it work. And fortunately, one has just run across her path, a little redheaded girl running away from home, one that is very interested in learning magic.
1. The Price

The Price

On the whole, youkai tended to be attractive. While they weren't all beautiful (though many of them were), the majority of them were at least pleasant to look at. However, to every rule there are exceptions. The Imp was one such exception.

While she still had humanoid form (head on top, torso in the middle, arms at sides, legs at the bottom), the Imp didn't so much resemble a Human as she did a toad's wart. Flabby, pimpled skin hung loosely from her arms and belly, her cheeks sagged from a lifetime of unhealthy meals, and rheumy yellow eyes glowered out from under her protruding eyelids. She wore a pair of greasy overalls and a wide-brimmed straw hat, decorated with a scrappy looking green feather. The bowl of a splintery pipe was clutched in one hamlike hand, from which she constantly puffed out sickly black smoke rings that smelled of tar.

Her name wasn't actually the Imp of course, but Mima always felt the title more fitting than the fat bitch's actual name. The name Roccio simply didn't do the foul creature justice. It was too pleasant.

On the whole, Mima didn't like associating herself with the Imp. Not because she was afraid of her damaging her reputation, as she had willingly fraternized with far more notorious people; and not because she had any moral objection to the things that the Imp had done, as Mima herself had done much worse. But that didn't change the fact that the Imp was such an unpleasant person that even unashamed monsters like Mima found her to be absolutely revolting.

Indeed, the first thing the Imp did as Mima entered her dismal hovel was to spread her fleshy lips in a smug smile, turn her head to spit a yellow gob onto the floor, and say through a throat full of phlegm, "Well, well, well, do these old eyes deceive me? The most magnificently marvelous Madam Mima, paying this poor, pathetic pauper a visit? But no, this surely cannot be. A magician so brilliant, so powerful, so feared as the illustrious Mima would never lower herself to such a level. This must be a trick, an imposter, one intended to soil the Evil Spirit of Makai's good name."

"Roccio," Mima said with a curt nod. "Still as articulate as ever. You're looking well, I see."

"Ha!" The Imp again spat on the floor, which was coated and stained by years of mucus, making Mima grateful for her lack of legs. "My joints ache, my back creaks, and my lungs burn with every breath; any fool can see that. Guess your, ah, reported skills at deceit are on the exaggerated side, yeah?"

"By your standards, that's practically radiant with health," Mima said graciously. "Though upon further inspection, I must concede the point. You have picked up a few more warts, it seems. My, my, Roccio. You really have let yourself go."

The Imp's glower deepened. "What the hell are you doing here, Mima? You had little enough time for me back in the Magician's War. Come to apologize for leaving me to rot in Sonozika's cell?"

"Why Roccio, you can hold a quite the grudge. And I thought you would have considered such a change in accommodations to be a step up." Mima glanced around the glorified outhouse that the Imp called home. "You know, considering what you're accustomed to."

The Imp snorted, causing a gob of snot to pop out of one nostril and drip down her face.

"But no," Mima said. "I'm not here to address old complaints. Rather, I'm here to purchase your services."

"My services, is it?" The Imp grinned, showing rotten and swollen gums split in places by jagged teeth that leaned like old gravestones. "Well now, you flatter me. I'll have to decline though. Sorry, I've got enough diseases in me as it is."

"I have need of the Receptacle," Mima said.

"Ooooh, do you?" The Imp glanced over her shoulder. There, nestled in a natural alcove formed by the tree's roots, was the only thing of worth to be found in the house: a low, rectangular altar a meter in height, half-a-meter in width, and three meters in length. It was made from red quartz and coated all along its sides and edges with frosted gold and black ebony, molded into grotesque depictions of various beings writhing in agony. The top, however, was completely bare, and a horn sat at each of its corners, all four of them curving inwards. And, like everything else in the room, it was coated in dust and other forms of filth.

As far as objects of dark magic went, the Receptacle ranked in the middle-weights. It had a specific job, and it did it well, but given how long it took to gather the necessary power it could only be used once every fifty years or so, and then only when its annoyingly exact conditions were met, those who had use of it often passed it over in favor of less powerful but more practical alternatives. But if someone were to provide the necessary payment when it was at full power, then it would provide the guaranteed destruction of a single inanimate object in turn. It didn't matter what it was, how well it was protected, or how durable it was, it would be destroyed. Furthermore, it also erased any magical link between itself and the targeted object in the same moment, making it untraceable. Useful if you absolutely needed something wrecked and couldn't do it yourself, were willing to meet the required price, weren't in any particular hurry, and were the only person to use it in the last half-century. As it so happened, Mima met all of the conditions.

To be truthful, Mima found the Receptacle to be representative of much of what was wrong with most objects of dark magic. Sure, it did its job well and cleaned up after itself, but its practicality was destroyed by the ridiculously over-specified requirements to make it work, not to mention the outrageous length of time it took to reach full power. Under normal circumstances, Mima would be content to ignore the altar's existence entirely and achieve her means though infinitely more practical means. Alas, these were not normal circumstances, and so here Mima was, in a stinking sewage-filled fleapit, bartering with a creature that was revolting in every sense of the word for use of a weapon that offended Mima's integrity as a dark magician with its very existence.

The Imp chuckled, a horrid sound that sounded like it was done through a can of putrid worm corpses. "So, this is what it's come to. Madam Mima, the Evil Spirit of Makai, Grand Sorceress of the Order of the Poison Sky, and High Warlord of the Serpentine Marauders, now comes crawling on her hands and knees, begging me for help."

"That's quite the exaggeration there, Imp," Mima said as she examined her poison-green fingernails. "Not to mention factually incorrect. For one, my posture is perfectly straight. For another, I do not even possess knees. And finally, I do not recall doing any 'begging.'"

"You might as well be," spat the Imp. "Just you even _being _here…Heh. Tell me something, Mima. After that whole 'unholier-than-thou' attitude you used to have, after all the power you used to wield, the fear people felt at the mere mention of your name, how does it feel to know that it's all gone?" An ugly smile twisted her ugly face. "Does it anger you? Fill you with shame, to know that centuries of plots have been laid to waste, that your forces and followers are all gone, that your power is broken, that your influence has been reduced to nothing more than a shadow and a whisper of a long-dead nightmare?" She took the pipe out of her mouth and jabbed its saliva-coated stem at Mima. "How does it feel, Mima, to know that you, who were once feared and respected by all, are now nothing more than a has-been?"

"Oh, it smarts, I will admit," Mima said. "I'll not deny that I've suffered setbacks and shortfalls. But fortunately, I still have one consolation to dull the pain."

"Yeah? And what's that?"

Mima's lips twisted into a cruel smile. "Better to be a has-been," she said, "than a never-was."

The Imp said nothing. Her glare was response enough.

"After all, as broken and reduced as I may be _now, _there is no denying that I was once great. I was feared, I was respected, and still am, in many places, something _you_ never were and never will be. Crack open any history book and look up my name in the index, and the number of entries will fill at least half the page. You? You'll be lucky if you get an unnamed mention in the Receptacle's footnote entry in _Obscure Magical Relics." _Mima again glanced around the room, making a show of appraising its shoddy condition. "Furthermore, simply having fallen from grace does not preclude a comeback. After all, at least I know how to get there. Can you say the same?"

Now the Imp's eyes were downright hate-filled. She puffed angrily on her pipe for nearly a minute before again demanding, "What do you _want, _Mima?"

"World peace, under my rule. The enslaved minds of both the living and the dead. To crush my enemies, to see them driven before me, and to hear the lamentations of their loved ones before I crush them too. But for now, I'll settle for this."

Mima opened a hand and muttered a word. Above her palm, an illusionary image flared to life, showing a small Shinto shrine. While in considerably better shape than the Imp's home, it still had seen better days, with peeling paint, a patchy roof, and grass in need of trimming.

The Imp let out a bark of laughter, spraying the air with spittle. "The _Hakurei Shrine? _Are you fucking serious?"

"Is there any reason why I shouldn't be? It is, after all, the dwelling place of my most persistent enemies."

"Yeah, but everyone _knows _that blowing up the shrine won't do squat! It happens all the time! They always just put it back together in the end. Hell, you must've done it yourself at least a couple dozen times!"

"Twenty-four and counting, actually," Mima said, closing her hand and extinguishing the image. "Twenty-five, after this is over. And destroying the shrine is merely a means to an end."

"Yeah? And what end is that?"

Mima smiled again. "Not what, whose. You may not know this, but the current shrine maiden is getting along in years. Like myself, she is far from the warrior she used to be, and like yourself, she isn't exactly in the best of health right now. Plus, coupled with the state of her finances and the fact that she is currently looking after a little girl-"

"Wait, say what?" The Imp's eyebrows knitted together. "Miko Hakurei took in a kid?"

"No, had one, nine years ago."

There weren't many people alive who could perform a spittake without actually drinking anything, but the Imp had saliva to spare. "Wh-wh-what?" she sputtered. "She gave _birth? Her?"_

Mima, who had never been so glad to be incorporeal as she was at that moment, said, "Yes. Something of a twilight years miracle. Isn't life something?"

"But she has to be…" The Imp squinted and started counting on her sausage-like fingers. "Well way beyond child-bearing age, even for a Hakurei!"

"Is she? Oh my, somebody better run off and inform Biology. A serious mistake has been made."

"Well, huh." The Imp narrowed her beady eyes as she pondered this new bit of information. "How about that? So the line continues, huh? How'd that happen, anyway? I mean, I knew those fucking Hakureis get to live longer than most of the roaches, but come on, there's got to be a cutoff."

"I cannot fathom a guess," Mima said. "Such matters are beyond my jurisdiction. But I do have it on good authority that, around the same time the girl was conceived, Miko kicked Yukari Yakumo out of the shrine and told her never to come back."

"Did she? Well, that does explain a lot. The old girl does have a nasty habit of pissing of her shine maidens, don't she?"

"This would be the twelfth time a Hakurei has banished her, yes."

The Imp chuckled. "And of course, your first impulse is to blow up the home of this poor, elderly mother and consign her and her young daughter to the cold of one of the harshest winters we've seen in over seventy years?"

"Personally, I see it as a sign of affection. After all, if I don't try to kill each Hakurei shrine maiden at least once before they hit puberty, they'll start to think I don't care."

The Imp's smirk somehow became even nastier. "Or start wondering why everyone always made such a big deal over you, if you keep failing to kill a little girl, over and over again."

Now it was Mima's turn to glower.

Seeing that she had managed to score a hit, the Imp let out some more mocking laughter, which Mima tolerated. When she was done, the Imp said, "Of course, we still haven't addressed the most important question yet."

"And what might that be?"

"Why the hell," The Imp took the pipe out of her mouth and blew a smoke ring right at Mima, "should I help you?"

Mima dispersed the smoke before it reached her. Coming from most people, the question would sound like a spiteful reminder of past insults. But given the context, Mima understood the actual meaning.

"What do you want?" she asked.

"Two things," said the Imp, holding up two fingers. "First, you know what it'll take to make the Receptacle run. You want to use it, the sacrifice is on you."

Mima nodded. She had expected as much. "And the second?"

The Imp motioned to a pile of filthy and damp papers lying in a corner. "I don't suppose you keep up with the _Bunbunmaru?"_

"Just for the recipes."

"Then you know what's going on at the Kappa Academy of Arts in two weeks."

"I've heard something about that, yes. An exhibition, isn't it? Of numerous artifacts of power?"

"Exactly. One of them's caught my eye. A stick, A bit under two meters long, supposed to make things fly. You familiar with it?"

Mima was, actually, and the answer surprised her. "The Takenostsue Joukuu? Surely not."

Like the Receptacle, the Takenostsue Joukuu wasn't exactly the most sought-after magical item, though it was better known, if only for academic reasons. A plain, unadorned rod of hard wood, its purpose was simple enough: anyone that held it was given the power of flight. Naturally, as most of Gensokyo's inhabitants were already born with that particular ability, that made the staff something of a joke among those who did not know its history. "What's next, a staff of defecating?" was a common joke whenever the staff was brought up, along with numerous other variants. However, those more educated tended to treat the Takenostsue Joukuu with more respect. While it was certainly useless in the practical sense, the fact that its creation predated Gensokyo itself by a number of generations gave it immense historical value, especially since the prevailing theory was that the reason everyone was able to fly was due to reverse engineering of the staff's enchantments. That alone gave it considerable significance.

Currently, the staff was in the possession of the aforementioned Yukari Yakumo, an incredibly powerful youkai who was the closest thing Gensokyo had to an actual ruler. Or rather, she would be, if she ever cared enough to do any actual ruling. Most of the time she just lazed about and let everyone mind their own affairs. Given that Mima took a more proactive approach to her ambitions, she and Yukari had clashed a number of times in years past. Unfortunately, Yukari did outclass her in terms of sheer magical power, and had a fair measure of cunning and ruthlessness when roused, but Mima still boasted a few victories over her. That, coupled with the fact that she still existed, was an accomplishment in of itself.

Based upon what Mima had picked up, Yukari was lending the staff, along with a few other objects of value, to the Kappa for their exhibition. Which explained why someone was after it now. While it was locked up in wherever Yukari stored her treasures, it would be all but untouchable.

"Surely yes," the Imp said, nodding. "Let's just say I know of someone who'd pay through the nose to get their mitts on it."

"When did you start dealing high-profile blackmarket goods?"

"Since I found someone willing to pay through the nose for high-profile blackmarket goods," the Imp snapped. "Those're my terms. Take 'em or leave 'em."

Mima shrugged. It wasn't a tall order. "Done. I'll get you the stick and a kid. Just make sure you do your part, and I won't have to bake what's left of your brain inside your skull."

"Don't worry about me. And don't you forget the conditions. The kid's gotta be-"

"I've read the fine print," Mima said shortly. "Trust me, everything will be up to specifications. After all, betrayal is something of a specialty of mine."

The Imp nodded. "Yeah, you can say that again. When you wanna do the deed?"

"Does the twenty-fifth of next month work for you?"

The Imp blinked her warty eyelids. "Christmas? You're gonna betray and murder a kid and blow up the home of an old woman and her little brat on Christmas?"

"It does lend a bit of cruel irony to the whole thing, doesn't it?"

"No shit." A slow, ugly grin lifted the Imp's fat lips. "But damn, and here I thought you had lost your touch."

Mima returned the look. Her lips were far more attractive, but the smile was no less ugly. "Ho, ho, ho," she said, her voice a low monotone.

…

Some hours later, Mima floated her way through the Forest of Magic, lost in thought. The task before her wasn't a difficult one; indeed, she had expected the Imp's demands to be far greater, perhaps even humiliating. Even with Yukari possibly involved, stealing the Takenostsue Joukuu out from under the Kappa's noses was such a simple task that it bordered on routine. She just needed to figure out how.

More pressing to her mind was the other half of the required payment, the one demanded by the Receptacle itself. To make it work, it required the sacrifice of a living Human, specifically a child. While such things were common among objects of dark magic, the Receptacle's conditions were a bit more specific than most. You couldn't just snatch a kid off the road and throw him or her onto the altar. You had to first gain their trust, make them think that they've gotten to know you, perhaps even love you. And then, once they had come to think of you as a friend, a protector, a mentor, or whatever you chose, _that _was when you threw them on the altar and killed them. They had to die with the full horror of your betrayal fresh in their minds; it wouldn't work otherwise.

It was for that reason that Mima looked upon the Receptacle with contempt. It was pointlessly gauche, evil for evil's sake. Once such betrayals became a requirement rather than a perk, it turned the whole thing into work and took all the fun out of it. Besides, it just overcomplicated things and made the Receptacle more of a chore to activate than it was worth.

Still, despite her criticisms, Mima was willing with work with those conditions when the situation called for it.

Now, where to acquire said child? The Human Village was discarded almost immediately. Despite being the most obvious choice, it was too risky. Taking a child probably wouldn't be too difficult, but it would not go unnoticed. Besides, kids from there tended to be taught not to trust strangers, and Mima wasn't interested in wasting time deprogramming them.

Her best bet was one of the smaller settlements; perhaps one of the farmsteads. They usually had a couple of tykes running around. Perhaps she could arrange to have one of them overrun and "conveniently" rescue one of the children, who would end up being the only survivor. Yes, that could work. The destruction could always be pinned on wild youkai, after all. They always made excellent scapegoats.

It was then that Mima heard a noise. She stopped her destinationless wandering and looked up, listening. Someone was moving nearby, and very quickly at that. Furthermore, they weren't trying to disguise their passage through the forest at all. Their breath was coming out in loud pants, mixed with whimpers.

Hmmm, interesting. Someone was fleeing for their life. That wasn't really surprising, as the Forest of Magic was one of the darkest and most dangerous places to be found on Gensokyo's surface. While dangerous youkai could be found in most places, the cruelest and strongest often made their homes in the Forest of Magic's tangled and overgrown paths. Outsiders that wandered in rarely left again unscathed, if they managed to leave at all.

As entertaining as watching the poor fool let themselves become someone's dinner would be, Mima was tempted to just go about her business. She had things to do, after all. But the sound of the fleeing person's cries tugged at her attention, and after a moment she understood why.

Her lips lifted in a smile. Well now, wasn't that just convenient?

A few turns later, and Mima saw that she was right. A Human girl was running (well, limping very quickly, sometimes wading when the piles of dead leaves and broken branches grew too deep) through the forest. From the looks of things, she was having a bad day. The front of her conservative grey dress was covered with mud, as were her palms and most of her face. Twigs and pieces of bark had become tangled in her hair short red hair, and her skin was scratched and bruised. Her eyes were wet and blotchy from crying. She couldn't have been older than seven or eight.

A lost child. Mima shook her head and smiled at her good fortune. Well now, that simplified things greatly. She needn't bother with any of the Human settlements at all. Part of the required price had just fallen into her lap. Mima had no truck with gods, at least not on a devotional level, but she considered sending some of the darker ones a "Thank You" card.

But while the girl was obviously scared, it wasn't the creeping, nervous fear of the lost, but the desperate panic of the hunted. Mima glanced around and found the source. Another girl, this one long-limbed and skeleton-thin with blue hair twisted into dreadlocks and a fashion sense that tended toward lots of stripes and orange ribbons, was crawling her way through the entwining branches overhead. Unsurprisingly it was a youkai, specifically a Chochinobake, if the lantern with the eye-shaped flame she carried was any indication. She was keeping pace with the scared Human girl, and judging by the bloodthirsty smile on her face she wasn't planning on helping the little girl find her way out of the forest.

As Mima watched, the redheaded girl's foot got hooked by a tree root and she fell. Sensing the end of their game, the youkai dropped from the branches and slowly approached, sauntering forward on three limbs like some kind of freakish spider while holding her lantern aloft with the fourth. "Oopsy-poopsie," she sang. "Little girly fall down. What does it tastes like, we wonders?"

"Get away!" the girl screamed as she tried to crawl away as fast as her short limbs could take her. She turned around and pressed her back to a tree. "I'm warnin' ya!"

The youkai was obviously amused. "Or it does what, we wonders?"

"Or…or I blast ya!" The girl snatched up a stick and thrust it forward. "I'm a _real _powerful wizard, and this is my magic wand! So get lost before I blow you up, ze!" That last syllable was certainly unusual, a whistling noise that was somewhere between a sneeze and a wolf whistle.

This time the youkai did stop, though it was out of puzzlement. "Ze?" she said. "What means ze?"

"It's a spell!" the girl shouted, giving the stick an emphatic wiggle. "One that'll blow your ugly head right off, ze!"

"There is ze again," the youkai mused to itself. "How strange this is. Maybe when we eats it, we says ze too."

"No, yer not eating anyone!" the girl screamed in panic. "I told ya, I'm a real powerful wizard, so just beat it already!"

"Is it?" The youkai cackled. "Well, we doesn't believes it. Perhaps it shows us a magic trick?"

Well, that was as good as an opening as any. Mima took a brief moment to change her appearance (trading in her ghostly tail for actual legs, turning her hair a brilliant silver, turning her robe royal purple, and conjuring a thin silver rod topped with a red jewel) and stepped into view.

"I'm not sure you'd want her to do that," she called.

The youkai had obviously not sensed Mima's approach, as she leaped full into the air with a screech of surprise. Immediately upon landing, she scampered around so that she was facing Mima.

"What is this?" the youkai demanded. "Where did it come from?"

"Moi?" Mima said, placing one hand over her chest. She held up her staff, which began emitting a bright crimson light. "Who am I? My dear wretch, you gaze upon the great and terrible Morgan le Fae, dread enchantress of the Forest of Magic!" Then she pointed her staff at the girl, who was also staring slack-jawed with shock. "Furthermore, that is my apprentice you're harassing."

"I am?" the girl gulped. Then, demonstrating that she at least had more wits than most brats, she immediately backpedaled and said, "Uh, of course I am! See, I told you I was a wizard!"

Now looking considerably less sure of herself, the youkai slowly backed away, though her face was still dark with doubt. "Morgan le Fae," she whispered, again mostly to herself. "But we never hears of Morgan le Fae."

"Never heard of me?" Mima straightened in mock-offense. "Now I'm just insulted. First you assault my apprentice, and now you claim to have never heard of the most infamous magician of the modern age. No, that won't do at all." She turned to the girl. "My dear, it is time this wretch is taught a lesson. Show her the full power of the Ze spell!"

"The Ze spell?" the girl repeated, her face screwing up in confusion.

"Yes! You warned her not to taunt its power, and now it's time to show her why!"

Still frowning with uncertainty, the girl pointed her stick at the bewildered youkai and said, "Uh, ze?"

Then she screamed and covered herself as the top half of the youkai simply exploded with a puff of red smoke, leaving nothing but an orange skirt and two legs covered with black-and-white striped stockings. These stood still for a moment before toppling over to flop lifelessly. And then, like all dead youkai should, they dissolved into mist.

"Well, that takes care of that," Mima murmured. She turned her attention to the cowering girl and made a quick assessment. Deciding that the girl wasn't the type to be coddled and cooed over, Mima settled for kneeling next to her and saying, "Are you all right?"

Shivering, the girl peeked out from behind her hands. "Did…did I do that?"

"No, I did. But that youkai _thought _you did, which should discourage her from picking on you in the future."

Apparently the shock was still well-entrenched, as the girl just stared blankly and said, "Huh?"

"Never mind." Mima made a show of glancing around. "For now, we'd better get you out of here before anything else shows up." She offered her hand to the girl.

But instead of taking it, the girl just kept staring and said, "So…that wasn't me? I didn't blow her up?"

"No," Mima said. "Again, I tricked her into thinking-"

"So there is no 'ze' spell?"

"No, there is not," Mima said patiently. "That was a trick. And now really isn't the best time to-"

"So I can't do magic?"

Mima's mouth thinned out into a straight line, but she said, "Whether or not you have any magical talent is not for me to judge, and seeing how you are still in danger, I suggest we postpone this conversation until-"

The girl's stick bounced off her nose.

"You _jerk!" _the girl screamed. "What'choo do that for, ze? You made me think Papa was wrong!" She snatched up a handful of soggy leaves and threw them into Mima's face. "Big. Stupid. JERK!"

Bemused, Mima watched as the girl snatched her stick back up and started jabbing it at her, all the while yelling, "Ze! Ze! Come, ZE! Blow up already!"

Well, this was an interesting development. Apparently her unexpected boon was insane. That complicated things. "Stop that," Mima said firmly. She grabbed the end of the stick and held it in place. "You're behaving foolishly, and if you don't compose yourself-"

The girl punched her in the cheek.

Summoning up an incredible amount of willpower, Mima resisted the urge to hurl the girl into orbit and slowly backed off. "All right, fine," she said. "I was going to invite you back to my home for a hot bath and some supper, but if that's how you treat your rescuers, I suppose we have nothing further to discuss."

She turned and started walking away, all the while counting down in her head.

_5, 4, 3, 2, 1…_

"Wait! Hey, wait!"

A small smirk passed briefly over Mima's face, and she stopped and looked over her shoulder. "Yes?"

The girl was still sitting with her back against the tree. "Are…are you a wizard, ze?"

Mima arched an eyebrow. "In a matter of speaking, though 'sorceress' would be more accurate, as would 'enchantress.' Even 'witch' would do in a pinch, though it's best to just stick with 'magician' so as to avoid confusion."

"What?"

"Only boys are wizards," Mima explained. She tried not to sound condescending, but it was just so hard. "Girl magicians are called other things, depending on their specialization."

The girl's nose wrinkled. "B-but you can do magic and stuff, right? That's how you blew up that creepy girl, right?"

Now Mima was starting to remember why she didn't much care for children. As idiotic as most Humans were, at least most of them would have realized that much by now. "Yes, little girl," she said, speaking slowly. "I am a magician. I can do magic. It's my job."

Then the girl's eyes lit up. "Really?" she said as scrambled to her feet. "Can you-"

Then her left foot slipped and she fell facefirst into a pile of leaves. "Oof!"

"Hmmm." Mima walked over to the struggling girl and gave her a brief examination. "It seems that your ankle is twisted."

"I tripped over a log," the girl muttered.

"And most everything since, by the look of things." Mima clicked her tongue and shook her head. "Well, it's easy enough to fix. I can patch you up and send you on your way, if you'd prefer."

The girl gave her an odd look. "You _can _do magic, right?"

"Yes." Mima held out her hand. Green light appeared in her palm, which twisted in on itself and took shape, becoming a white-petaled flower. "Lots and lots of magic."

The girl stared in wide-eyed wonder. Then she looked up at Mima and grinned. "So, uh, you said you lived around here, ze?"

…

Fortunately, Mima's hideaway in the Forest of Magic already resembled a proper magician's laboratory. It helped that it actually was a proper magician's laboratory. Only a few minor touch-ups were needed to create the illusion that Mima led a mortal life there: a cabinet of dishes, a larder with food, a bed, and so on. Upon their arrival, this was accomplished with a few minor magic tricks. And when the girl was happily soaking in Mima's cauldron making bubble monsters fight each other, Mima took the opportunity to teleport to nearby homesteads and procure the items she needed to reinforce the deception.

Mima loved being a spirit with magical powers and a dubious code of morality. Even when operating on a fraction of her power, it made things so much easier.

At any rate, as the girl was still enjoying her bath by the time she had returned, Mima decided to get started on that whole "dinner" thing. She could of course just use her powers to create something that looked and tasted like the real thing, but she needed to keep the girl healthy long enough to sacrifice her on an evil pagan altar, and ingesting too much magic was known to have negative side-effects. Besides, as handy as willing things into being could be, Mima preferred to do things for herself. It had been a long time since she had last cooked anything, at anything intended for safe consumption, and while she didn't need to eat, she found the art itself to be enjoyable. It was like mixing potions or assembling a ward, only with different ingredients and better smells.

After some consideration, she decided to go with something simple: noodles with beef, various vegetables, and a mild curry sauce. She considered baking some bread as well, but that would just take too long.

However, even when she had finished, the girl was still in the bath. Furthermore, she had stopped making noises.

Frowning, Mima went into the next room. She hoped that the girl hadn't somehow drowned herself, but accidents do happen. It would be horribly embarrassing if that proved to be the case. Accidentally killing your chosen sacrifice weeks before the sacrifice itself was supposed to take place was never good for business.

Fortunately, the girl was still alive. However, she was now floating upside-down at least two meters over the cauldron with a loony grin on her face. Bubbles from her bath were rising from the water to form clinging tendrils that twirled around her body. And, for some reason, both she and the bubbles had turned bright pink.

Mima blinked in surprise. Well now, that wasn't supposed to happen. She was certain that she had decontaminated the cauldron before filling it with water.

Then she spied the empty glass bottle lying on the floor and understood. The girl had mistaken one of her potions for more bubble-bath and had poured it in. Clearly, Mima was going to have to start taking better care to keep her stuff out of the kid's reach. Fortunately, while exposure to the potion was mildly intoxicating, it had no long-term negative effects, but it would still do to be careful. The next time, the girl could end up turning herself into a lizard or cause her head to swell up to four times its normal size.

Mima reached up and pulled the girl to the floor. A tap on the nose, and the girl's glazed eyes rolled back and she slumped to the floor, her skin already fading to its normal hue. Then Mima tapped the cauldron. The web of pink bubbles popped away, and the water was set boiling until nothing remained than a layer of pink liquid at the very bottom, which she then gathered back into the bottle. Waste not…

The girl's eyes fluttered. "Uh, I feel weird…" she mumbled as she sat up and rubbed her eye with her fist. "And kind of fizzy."

"Too much bubble bath," Mima said, putting the bottle on a high shelf. "You should know better than to play with strange potions that you find in a magician's home. But now that you're clean, supper is ready. Unless, of course, if you'd rather take a nap-"

"Supper?" The girl's head jerked up, all trace of sleepiness gone. "Food!"

With that, she was on her feet and bolting in the direction of the smell of food. Mima picked up the (now clean) grey dress from the chair it had been laid over and cleared her throat.

The girl stopped and turned to stare at her.

Mima held up the dress. "Forgetting something?"

Moments later, the girl was fully dressed and burying her face into her bowl. Mima sat across from her with a bowl of her own. Unneeded as it might be, she wasn't above indulging in some of the baser pleasures every now and then, and taste was one of the finest.

When the girl finally slowed enough to come up for air, Mima said, "Well, now that you've been restored to a suitable condition, perhaps it's time that you told me your name."

The girl scowled.

"What, don't you have one?"

Instead of answering, the girl morosely poked her remaining food around the bottom of the bowl.

Mima cocked her head to one side. "Is there a problem? Do you not remember it? Are you experiencing memory loss?"

"I know it," the girl muttered. "Just don't like it."

"Well, tell it to me anyway."

The girl's scowl darkened, but she mumbled, "Mary."

Hmmm, a very Western name, but those weren't unheard of. Come to think of it, the girl did seem like she had Western heritage. "What's wrong with Mary? It's a serviceable enough name."

"But it's _boring," _Mary complained. "Mair-ree. It's so stupid sounding and dumb."

Mima refrained from pointing out the redundancy of that last sentence. "Is that right? Well, did you know that according to most Western faiths, Mary was the name of the woman chosen to be the mother of God himself, reincarnated as Human? So to that way of thinking, you are named after the most important woman in history."

"Duh," Mary said scornfully. "Of course I know about the Virgin Mary! Papa has this big ol' picture of her and Jesus, and I think he prays to her more than God, ze!"

Well, that confirmed the girl's heritage at least. There were faiths, religions, and superstitions aplenty in Gensokyo, but Christianity and its offshoots were a bit on the rare side. There were a handful practitioners scattered among the hamlets and farms, at least one small commune out by the Autumnal Forest, a few more in Center Tree, and a small but close-knit group in the Human Village, but for the most part they formed a minority, one that was mostly restricted to Western Outsiders that had found their way into Gensokyo and had been unable to leave. According to Mima's sources, they did see a small but fervent revival a few decades back, one that had been suddenly cut short when its more zealous members ran afoul of a particularly nasty youkai. Seeing how a fair amount of the modern-day believers were descended from that ill-fated movement's survivors, this girl's father or grandfather had probably been involved. Or not; there had been other Christians that had stayed well away from them. They had been a rather dogmatic bunch, after all.

"Well then, there you go," Mima said with a shrug. "Your name has semi-divine heritage."

Mary scowled. "But I don't wanna be named after somebody's _mom! _Mary never did nuthin', she just rode around on a donkey and had a baby." She irritably worked to fish a rebellious lump of rice out of her bowl. "'Sides, I don't wanna be named for someone who's already dead. I wanna do big important stuff and be the one other stupid papas name their kids after, ze!"

Mima quirked an eyebrow. "Well, I can't say I don't like your attitude. And judging by your tone, I take it you and your father are at odds?"

Mary looked like she was a little confused by all the big words, but she seemed to catch the gist of what Mima was saying. "He's a big, fat jerk," she declared angrily. "He's always making me stay inside the Village and do stupid lessons. And every time I ask about magic, he gets made and yells at me for wanting to know about evil. Then he hits my ears."

Okay, that definitely sounded like something from the leftover remnants of that little revival. Most of the other Christians had more-or-less adapted to their life in Gensokyo and got along quite well with their magical brethren, even the local gods, even if they didn't worship them themselves. There were even a few magicians among their number. So this sort of closed-mindedness definitely stank of that now-extinguished sect, the fools.

"Well, that's a bit backward," Mima said mildly. "This is Gensokyo. There is magic everywhere. Most of the people here need it to live, while others use it as naturally as breathing."

"Z'actly!" Mary shouted, banging her tiny fist against the table. "But he don't wanna listen, ze!"

"He certainly sounds like an unpleasant person," Mima agreed. She stood up (and my, that felt strange. It had been a long time since she had worn legs) and started collecting the dishes. "What of your mother? Does she have an opinion on the subject?"

Mary shook her head. "Nah, she's dead."

And the plot thickened. Mima wouldn't be surprised if magic had been somehow involved. Losing one's spouse to an ill-timed spell would definitely leave poor impressions, even without adding religion to the mix. "Oh, I'm so sorry," she said, sounding fully sincere.

"Why?" Mary asked, her face scrunching up. "Did'ja kill her or somethin'?"

Oddly enough, the question didn't seem to be sarcastic. "No, of course not," Mima said. "I was simply offering sympathy."

"Eh, don't worry," Mary said with a shrug. "I was a baby, so it's not like I even remember her."

Nodding, Mima took the dishes over to her newly-acquired washbin. "Do you know how it happened?"

"She got sick," Mary said evasively. "Hey, can you teach me magic?"

Well, that was certainly an abrupt change of subject. Deciding to let the question of the girl's parentage drop for the time being, Mima turned her head to give the girl a skeptical look. "Pardon? _Teach _you magic?"

"Yes!" Mary said excitedly. "I wanna be a magician too, ze! Can you teach me?"

It was good that Mima had long perfected her poker face, because otherwise the grin she felt forming would be hard to fight. Oh, this was going to be fun. Placing the dishes in the large, wooden bucket, Mima straightened up and said in a dangerous tone, "How to become a-Child, do you have the slightest inkling as to the magnitude of what you're asking?"

"C'mon!" Mary begged. "Please!"

Her eyes dark with fury, Mima advanced on the tiny Human. "Your ignorance is astounding, and matched only by your arrogance. Becoming a magician is more than learning a few penny tricks." A nudge of her will, and the house changed: the shadows lengthened, the walls seemed to curve in around them, and the timbers started creaking. All subtle of course; just enough to add a measure of menace to the atmosphere.

It worked. The girl cowered back in her seat. Her mouth hung open and her eyes were staring unblinking at Mima as she advanced. "It is a calling, one that takes years of careful study, endless practice, and a highly disciplined mind." Another nudge, and she pushed things a bit beyond subtlety: lightning crackled in her eyes, red energy collected around her fingers, and shimmering green smoke gathered behind her head like a halo. When she spoke, her voice echoed resonantly. "What makes you think that you have the dedication, fortitude, and raw talent to learn under me?"

Mima hovered before the gaping child, glowering down at her. She held her intimidation factors for a few seconds further before finally letting them fade away, returning their surroundings to normal.

"Speak," she said to Mary.

Mary continued to gawk up at her. Then, to Mima's honest surprise, she grinned widely. "Oh my gosh, that was _so cool!" _she gibed. "Can I learn that first?"

Mima raised an eyebrow. Well, the girl had will and drive, both points in her favor. "So, you truly desire to learn under me?" she inquired, folding her arms over her chest.

"Yes!" Mary all but cheered. Then she quickly composed herself, or at least attempted to. The bouncy energy emitting from her was almost palpable. "I mean, please?"

"Even if doing so means being separated from your father? Perhaps indefinitely?"

Mary's grin grew all the wider. "You mean it? I don't have to go home? Yes! Yes, yes, yes, yes!"

Sighing, Mima dropped her arms and turned away. "Unfortunately Mary, I am not looking to take on a new apprentice right now…"

"Please!" Mary begged again, this time bouncing in her seat. "Please, please, please!"

"Hmmm." Keeping her back to the anxious girl, Mima rubbed her chin as she pretended to take the girl's request under consideration. Petty as it may be, the sorceress was enjoying Mary's distress. "Well, I don't know…"

"PLEASE!"

Sighing, Mima turned to face her again. "All right. You may spend the night here, and tomorrow I'll test you to see if you have sufficient magical talent. If you possess the necessary potential, then yes, I will teach you. But-"

"THANK YOU!" Mary squealed. She leapt out of her chair and threw her arms around the sorceress's waist. "Thank you, thank you, thank you! I promise I'll be the best student ever, ze! I never be any trouble and do everything you say and-"

"Wonderful. You can start by getting off." Mima gingerly peeled the girl off of her. "And I haven't said yes yet. I still need to check your power, remember?"

Balling up her little fists in eagerness, Mary said, "Do it now! Uh, please?"

"Tomorrow," Mima said sternly.

"But-"

"To. Mor. Row," Mima said in a clipped tone. "If you cannot wait that long, then you have no business trying to become a magician."

Mary stiffened. She swung her right arm up and smacked the side of her hand against her brow in a salute. "Aye, aye!"

"In the meantime, I have matters to occupy me tonight," Mima said. "You may use the bed, so long as you refrain from pestering me and-"

Before she had finished the sentence, Mary had bolted over to the bed Mima had procured from a nearby homestead with and leapt right in. "Oh my gosh, this is amazing!" she sung as she bounced up and down. "I don't know how I'm gonna sleep with-"

Mima pointed a finger at her and muttered a word. Sparks hit Mary in the face in mid-bounce and she belly-flopped onto the green-and-blue quilt and started snoring.

Amused, Mima shook her head and smiled. Well, fate had seen fit to smile upon her. She needed to win a child's trust for the sacrifice, and here one was. And not only that, one that was estranged from her family and obsessed with magic. Chuckling to herself, Mima turned and walked away. She couldn't have found a more suitable subject if she had one specially designed.

…

Mima spent the remainder of the night scouting out where the Takenostsue Joukuu was being kept and taking stock of the security measures that had been put in place. Her intention was to just zip in and take it before anyone knew that one of their treasures was in danger, but upon arrival she was forced to downscale to a simple reconnaissance mission. Apparently the event's organizers were not among those who considered the staff a joke. Mima had to compliment them for forward thinking, but it certainly complicated things.

The Kappa Academy of Arts was located in the Kappa Village, which in turn had been established beneath the waters of the great lake that sat at the foot of the Youkai Mountain. The village itself was more-or-less one large self-contained structure that sprawled over the lake's bottom. Instead of individual buildings, things like private homes, business, and public services were contained within suites of room, connected by a network of passageways. From above, it looked like several sand-colored domes and cone-shaped towers connected by a bunch of tubes at their base.

The Academy itself had its own sizeable dome. The exhibition was to take place in the palatial lobby within a few weeks' time. Until then, the items to be put on display were being stored safely away in a high-security storage room. And, as Mima immediately learned upon arrival, no chances were being taken that an item might be removed without consent. The Kappa were the most technologically advanced species within Gensokyo, and while they sometimes favored showmanship over practicality, she had to admit the myriad of defenses they had put in place was impressive. Alarms, cameras, invisible lasers, electrified surfaces, and hidden panels containing enough artillery to declare war on their avian neighbors were all present, and then some.

Of course, technology meant little to Mima. It was all just artificial manipulation of energy, after all. And there were few that could match her in that department. Unfortunately, it seemed that the Kappa had decided to hedge their bets by employing technology's cranky uncle: magic. Usually the two forces weren't used in cooperation, but today wards, charms, seals, and shields sat comfortably with the Kappa devices. Now that was progressive thinking, and it presented one hell of a problem.

Had Mima been complete, disabling all present defenses, regardless of their type, would be laughably easy. There was not a ward she couldn't crack and no circuit board she could not send into electrical seizures. Unfortunately, Mima was not complete. At the moment, she had a mere fraction of her normal power. More than enough for day-to-day stuff of course, and she still outclassed the majority of professional practitioners. But taking on something like this? Well, that was going to require some work.

After mapping out the exhibit's defenses the best she could without triggering any of them, Mima returned to her hideout. Mary was still lying facedown one the bed, snoring happily. Mima checked to ensure she wouldn't accidentally suffocate and considered the problem. This was a distressing turn of events. Why would a simple historical exhibit require so much security? Okay granted, the staff wasn't the only item being displayed; it wasn't even the centerpiece. And fine, maybe they were paranoid about misplacing one of Yukari's possessions. And the Kappa were known for going overboard whenever they did anything. But this was just ridiculous.

For a moment, Mima wondered if Roccio was responsible. Could this be some sort of clever trap? To name the staff as her payment and tip its owners off about the heist, thereby causing the rest of Mima to be trapped and sealed away as well? Mima wouldn't put it past her to…But no, that didn't track. Wards of that caliber required several days to prepare, and unless Roccio was somehow prescient, there was no way she could have known that Mima would ask for her services.

Troubled, Mima put her mind to work. The exhibition was in about three weeks' time, after which it would go right back into Yukari's vault, rendering it completely out of reach. Until then, it would remain under near-impenetrable security. Well, fine. Mima liked a challenge.

Soon she was surrounded by floating holographic projections, both flat and three-dimensional, of the Academy, with all the security measures she had managed to observe noted in glowing white. She studied them intently, taking note of patterns and layouts, searching for that small hinge pin that would bring everything down. Every elaborate system had one.

Then she heard a sleepy yawn. She turned and saw to her surprise that Mary was starting to stir. Already? But that spell should have kept her down for…

Mima quickly checked the time and found that it was well past dawn. Well, she really had lost track of time.

Quickly she banished the maps and reassumed the form of Morgan le Fae. Mary sleepily sat up and yawned again. Rubbing her eyes, she squinted at her surroundings.

Apparently she hadn't been expecting what she saw, as she blinked slowly at the cluttered magician's workshop, her brow furrowed in confusion. Then she caught sight of Mima and her face lit up.

"Oh yeah!" She scampered off the bed and ran to Mima. "Check me, check me!"

Mima quirked an eyebrow. "Already? It isn't even seven o' clock yet. Wouldn't you like to have breakfast first?"

"No!" Mary stamped her foot. "Check me! You promised!"

"Oh, very well." Mima reached out with one hand. "Hold still."

Mary made an effort, though her body still trembled with excitement. Mima touched her forehead and closed her eyes. As she reached in with her will, she found herself musing on just how ironic it would be if the girl turned out to be a sublime talent. It wouldn't change anything of course, but it would be amusing for a magical prodigy to have been born to a noted hater of the mystic.

Mima searched and found…

Nothing.

Wait, what? Frowning, Mima dug deeper, probing every centimeter of the girl's mind and soul. Surely there had to be something. This was Gensokyo, and even the lowliest of Human had at least a tiny measure of talent. It was how they were able to fly and shoot danmaku, after all.

But all rules had exceptions, and it seemed that Mima had stumbled across one in its purest form. This girl didn't have a smidgen of magical ability. No bullets, no flight, nothing. No wonder she hadn't tried to fly away from that youkai the night before. She just couldn't. Honestly, it was a miracle she had gotten as far into the forest as she had.

Mima was dumbfounded. Such pristinely ungifted individuals weren't unheard of, but they were extremely rare. Even immigrants from the Outside World always ended up acquiring the same basic abilities as the native-born. Those like Mary were horrifically unfortunate anomalies: deformed in a way, but of a spiritual variety rather than a physical one. Perhaps that was why wanted so desperately to become a magician. On some level, she sensed what she was missing, and desired to acquire it.

"Well?" Mary said impatiently. "Can you teach me, ze?"

Smiling warmly, Mima removed her hand and said, "Well, well, well. Now _that _is a lot of power."

Mary's eyes brightened. "Really?" she said, her voice rising to a high pitch.

Mima solemnly nodded. "Indeed. Now, if were are to do this, you must understand-"

"YES!" Mary screamed. She started running circles around Mima, pumping her tiny fists above her head screeching in celebration. "I'm going to be a magician, I'm going to be a magician, I'm going to be a magician!"

Mima allowed her to make four orbits before stopping her with a hand to her shoulder. "All right, stop that," she said sternly. "As I was about to say, if you want me to teach you, you have to be prepared to do exactly as I say. The road to becoming a magician is neither easy nor simple. You must be ready to push yourself harder and endure hardships beyond anything you imagined. It will not be pleasant, but if you manage to survive, you have a good chance of becoming truly great."

Mary nodded enthusiastically. "Yes, yes, yes! Anything you want! Bring it on, I'm ready!"

Oh, the poor little fool. Mima let her wander off to the bed, where she lay on her back, staring dreamily at the ceiling. "I'm going to be a magician," she whispered.

Though her smile never wavered, Mima sighed internally. She was not often moved to pity, but she came close then. All things considered, sacrificing this girl to the Receptacle could almost be a mercy. And while Mima despised altruism, she was willing to make an exception, because to allow Mary to live on in such a state was a fate too cruel even for her.

…

_Yup, this is this year's Christmas special. Only this one is going to be done a little differently. See, a few days ago I realized that, since this is both a training montage and a heist story, publishing it as one big chunk would cause a number of pacing problems. So I'm releasing it in sections. Here's the first, the second will be up on Monday, and the final will be up the following Saturday. And don't worry: Resonance Days will be worked on as planned. Also note that this isn't going to be a regular thing. Next year's special will be back to being a one-shot._

_But yeah, hope you guys like it. Merry Christmas, everyone!_


	2. The Payment

The Payment

"Point your finger at the target," Mima said, her hand on Mary's shoulder. "Make sure the tip is lined up with the bull's-eye."

Sticking her tongue out of the side of her mouth, Mary extended her right arm to its fullest length, index finger outstretched and pointed at a red-and-white target painted on the side of a tree.

"Good," Mima said, nodding in approval. "Now, you see the bull's-eye. Study it. Memorize it, but do it quickly. Five seconds, go."

Mary stared unblinking at the target while Mima counted down. At the end of five seconds, she said, "All right. Now, while keeping your finger right where it is, close your eyes."

That confused her protégé. "Close my eyes? But then I won't see!"

"Do as I say," Mima said firmly, though not unkindly.

Still looking unsure of her instructions, Mary squeezed her eyes shut.

"Good," Mima said. "Now, I want you to picture the target in your mind. Visualize it, make it real. Feel where it is." She waited a few seconds. Through the contact her hand gave her, she could see what Mary saw, and in the girl's mind's eye, the bull's-eye appeared in a field of black. "Now, can you see it?"

Her face scrunched up in concentration, Mary nodded.

"Very good. Now, I want you to pretend that there is a string extending from the tip of your finger to the bull's-eye, connecting you to it. Picture the string, make it so real that you can almost feel its every vibration."

"Okay," Mary muttered. A silver line appeared in her imagination, connecting her finger to the center of the target.

"Now, here's what you do next: the string that connects you to the target is a bridge. Not a literal one, of course, but a bridge nonetheless."

"A bridge?" Mary said in bewilderment, though she kept her eyes closed and arm outstretched.

"Hush. Don't speak. Simply listen and obey."

Though she still looked dubious, Mary concentrated on her teacher's words.

"Feel the energy well up within you," Mima instructed. "Feel the magic rise up, until it crackles at your fingertips."

A shiny gleam of sweat had broken out on Mary's forehead.

"And when the pressure becomes too great, send it across the bridge. You are connected to the target already. Use that connection."

Sparks and smoke exploded out of Mary's fingertip, and she fell back with a scream. Amused, Mima watched as the girl lay on her back, eyes staring transfixed on the blackened tip of her finger.

"D-did I do that?" she stammered.

"Indeed you did," Mima said in congratulations. "Well done."

Mary blinked stupidly at her. "B-but I d-didn't hit the t-t-target, ze!"

"Nor did I expect you too," Mima told her. She reached down to help the girl to her feet. "The bull's-eye was just there to give you something to focus on. It will take some work before you can launch an actual projectile."

"Oh," Mary said, still sounding dazed. "How long?"

"As long as it takes," Mima told her. "But rejoice: you have just taken your first step toward becoming a magician!"

Around Mary's wrist was a thin bracelet of white quartz. Mima had given it to her. "Until I say otherwise, you are not to use magic of any kind without my supervision," she had said. "This bracelet will hold your power in check at all other times and prevent an accidental discharge. Only I will be able to remove or deactivate it."

Mima reached down and touched the bracelet. The quartz turned ruby red. "I think that's enough for now," she said. "We'll resume later this evening."

Mary's face fell in disappointment. "But-"

"Ah, ah, ah," Mima said, wagging her finger. "None of the sass. And remember: you are still young, and magic is a dangerous thing. Those who push themselves too hard and too fast quite often burn out. It pays to take things slow and let your body grow accustomed to its new power. As you grow stronger, we'll be able to work for longer periods of time. But for now, please be patient."

Mary nodded at the words of wisdom from her new master. "Okay! Got it!"

"Good girl." Mima gave her a gentle push from behind. "Now, back to your studying. Go on."

Mima watched as Mary happily skipped away to the hut. Another point in the girl's favor: despite being very young, she loved to read, especially books about magic. And Mima had a lot of those. Of course, Mary often needed help with the big words and archaic language, but she was getting the hang of things. It really was a pity that circumstances had to be what they were. Back when Mima still had allowed others to learn under her, she would have enjoyed having such an enthusiastic student. Unfortunately, even if Mima hadn't already marked her for death, her complete lack of magic would have made that impossible.

The bit with the sparks and smoke was a sham, of course. Mima had cast that herself, using Mary's body as a conduit. And the bracelet was nothing more than a carved rock that changed color. That was the whole idea: use her own magic to deceive Mary into thinking that she was actually learning. Mima had long learned the value of a well-executed placebo effect. The girl didn't suspect a thing, and nor would she until right before the knife went in.

…

When Mima entered Roccio's hovel a week later, the Imp's crusted eyes bulged with surprise. "Wha-" the ugly creature started to say, only to get caught off by a fit of gurgled coughing. She hacked and spat out a wad of mucus and bile about the size of a baseball directly at her guest. Whether the foulness' trajectory was by accident or design Mima didn't care to find out, she just knew that incorporeal or not, she did not want it coming anywhere near her. A quick muttered word later, and it suddenly veered sharply to the side to splatter against the wall.

"I don't if that was some kind of archaic show of respect," the spirit said, "but I'll thank you to employ modern greetings from now on."

The Imp glowered at her, yellow drool seeping out of the side of her mouth. "Yeah? Well, this modern enough for you?" She held up one hand, fingers displayed in a commonly used obscene gesture.

"Close enough," said Mima. "Just so long as your foul leavings stay well away from me."

"Heh. Don't like it? Then don't come here." Roccio took a long draft from her pipe and released the smoke through her nostrils. How it managed to escape through all that snot, Mima had no idea. Maybe it evaporated it on the way out. The streams of smoke were certainly looking a little yellowish. "Speaking of which, the hell do you want? Don't tell me you're giving up already."

Mima arched an eyebrow. "Hardly. Quite the contrary, I thought I'd stop by and cheer your spirits with news of my progress."

"Yeah?" Roccio absently poked at her left nostril with her pinkie. "You got the stick yet?"

"Right idea, wrong requirement. A fitting offering for the Receptacle has been found and acquired. A runaway girl, one that dreams of being a magician."

Roccio grinned maliciously. "And you took it upon yourself to draw her under your wing and show her the strange and wonderful world of magic?"

"Indeed," Mima said with a nod. "Quite a fortuitous find. She's so utterly obsessed with the false lessons I've been giving her that she'd gladly rush into a wolf's den if I told her that there was a mystical rune stone inside."

"Which is more-or-less what's gonna happen to her," the Imp pointed out. "But yeah, okay. Glad to hear, but so what? I don't give a rip about the kid, that's the Receptacle's price. What about my stick?"

"Ah yes," Mima said, thoughtfully rubbing her chin. "That. Funny thing, that."

"Huh?"

"You see, the other day I popped by the Kappa Village. I thought I'd get a look at the place before I robbed them blind." Her hands clasped behind her back, Mima leaned forward, bringing her face level with the Imp's, though still keeping it out of sneezing range. "And do you know what I found?"

"Fish?"

"No. Well, yes, but it also seems that the Academy is taking the security of the staff very seriously. Almost egregiously so. Why, it's almost as if they expect someone in possession of skill, power, and intelligence to come and make a try at it."

"But instead they'll get you," Roccio snickered. "Boy, are they in for a disappointment."

"Cute, Roccio. Answer the implication."

Instead, Roccio chose to be, surprise, irritating first. She took a long draw from her pipe and blew out several smoke rings before finally saying, "If you mean, 'Did Roccio tip the Kappa off about you,' then you're even more paranoid than I thought. Hell no, I didn't."

"Yes, I know that," Mima said, speaking as slowly to her as she would Mary. "But it still seems strange to see them so prepared to repel thieves. Tell me: can I expect any specific form of competition in this endeavor?"

Roccio let out a gurgling chuckle. "Heh. Well, you're sharp, I'll give you that." She shrugged. "Well, fine. Yeah, they know someone's after it. They just don't know it's you."

"Go on."

"Well, who d'ya think it is?" Roccio said with a shrug. "My benefactor, of course. From what I hear, she's gonna try for the stick herself if no one answers her underground classified. But if someone were to get it first, she won't quibble about the price."

Her. Interesting. So Roccio's mystery employer, if indeed they had ever interacted personally, was female. That wasn't exactly extraordinary, given how many there were, but it did cut down the suspect pool by a bit. "I don't suppose you'd be so gracious as to provide a name?"

Rocci glowered. "And let you cut me out of the deal? The hell I am!"

For this she received quite the withering look. "Roccio," Mima said. "Dear. I know that pile of atrophied jelly you call a brain is half-eaten by maggots, but I would appreciate it if you'd remember that my interest in this matter begins and ends with the Receptacle. Really, I care not one wit for the money. Take it all, and buy yourself a new set of lungs. The gods know you need a pair."

"All right, all right," Roccio groused. "Point taken. Thing is, I don't know who she is. I only heard of it through one of my tobacco suppliers, and the wandering spirit I conjured confirmed it. Some kind of collector I guess. I mean, who else would want it?"

"A number of people, but I don't doubt that your correct." Mima shrugged. "Well, it matters not to me, though knowing the identity of my so-called competition would be useful. But there are other ways to procure such information."

"Goody." The Imp shifted in her seat, making her rolls of blubber quiver. "Why don't you go piss off and do that then, instead of bothering me?"

"As you wish," Mima said gravely. She bowed at the waist. "Very well, I leave you to your pestilence. Take care of yourself, Roccio. No one else is likely to."

…

Hours later, Mima sat at her worktable (a rather strange sensation; she was accustomed to floating), trying to divine up the name of this mysterious collector of the strange. Unfortunately, while she was able to verify that _someone _was after the Takenostsue Joukuu and would pay handsomely for it, that person was apparently no fool. They had covered their tracks well, and no searching spirit or seeking spell could cough up their identity.

Disappointed but still intrigued, Mima tapped at her chin while she considered the problem. Clearly she was dealing with a professional here. Even as reduced as she was, Mima should have been able to pluck out her target's name, elusive as it might be. The fact that she had yet to be successful spoke of this person's skill.

Either way, sitting around trying to batter down their defenses was a waste of time, and would only tip them off to Mima's presence. Better to keep an eye on the staff and wait for them to make their move.

Mima smiled. Yes, she liked that plan. If this person was as competent as they appeared, why not let them shoulder the work of getting through the Kappa's defenses? Then with a little misdirection, Mima could divert them long enough for her to claim the staff for herself and deliver it to Roccio. Then the sacrifice would take place, Mima would be restored, Roccio would be paid, and her unknown rival would get the Takenostsue Joukuu anyway. Everyone went home happy! Well, everyone save for Mary and the Hakureis. But really, who cared about them?

Speaking of which…

Mima grew aware of a small presence next to her chair. Sighing, she pushed away from the table and glanced down to Mary, who was staring up in interest. "What's that glowing thing?" she asked, pointing to the tabletop, the top of which was well out of her line of sight.

"A divination rune," Mima answered.

Mary stared at her, clearly not comprehending the big words.

Sighing, Mima banished the rune with a wave of her hand. "Divination is the art of using magic to find out things. A rune is…Think of it as a magical picture. If you draw it right, it does a certain kind of magic. So, if you were to draw a fire rune, it would create fire. If you were to draw a replenishment rune, it would make you stop feeling tired whenever you were near it. Therefore, a divination rune is a magic picture that helps you find out things that you want to know."

"Oh, I get it!" Mary said, her head bobbing. "So, it's kinda like a spell that you stick to the table, and you ask it questions, and it uses magic to find you the answers?"

Mima blinked. That actually was a fairly accurate way of putting it. "Essentially, yes. Except it can be stuck to any kind of surface."

"Cool!" Mary grinned. "When can I learn how to make those?"

_Never, _Mima thought. Runes were a special kind of magic, in that they could be used by anybody. Granted, being inscribed by someone with actual talent enhanced their effectiveness, but so long as they were drawn correctly, they could take all the magic they needed from the air around them and activate. Even Mary could create them, and Mima wasn't about to give her access to magic she could actually use. Though it was a moot point anyway. Though they seemed simple at a glance, runes were actually quite complicated. They had to be drawn perfectly, else they wouldn't work at best, and sometimes backfired in the most spectacular ways.

"In time," Mima said comfortingly. "Now, go back to your studies."

"Did it!" Mary said cheerfully.

Mima looked at her doubtfully. "You finished the chapter already?"

"Yup! And the one after it; I read fast. Hey, you know ol' Orculus?"

"Yes, I do," Mima said, a small, nostalgic smile forming. That old charmer... "What about him?"

Mary frowned. "Well, he keeps popping up as someone that everyone was all afraid of. Like, there's a whole bit where they had to make a whole bunch of new roads just to keep away from his tower, an' there was that one governor guy who thought he was so tough until Orculus told him off, which made him just about pee himself, ze!"

"Yes, I am aware. What about that is giving you trouble?"

"Well, I looked him up in the index, and it turns out that he barely had any power at all! Like, okay, he could do magic, but not a lot, but everyone kept treating him like he was a big deal! But I was reading about this Misha the Weaver person, and she could do tons and tons of magic! But everyone kept pushing her around! What gives?"

Ah, bless the inquisitiveness of the young. This was a lesson Mima had no problem teaching. "The difference, Mary, isn't who had the most magic. There is no question that Misha was a far greater practitioner than Orculus could have ever hoped to become. But it the fact remains that while he had considerably less skill than most magicians of his day, Orculus had far more power."

Mary stared in bewilderment. "Huh?"

"Most people equate power with magical ability," Mima explained. "And it's true, power can come from that. But simply being proficient in magic, or any other skill, does not give one power. It gives strength, yes, but they are not the same thing. Power is not what you're capable of. More often than not, what _other _people think you're capable of, whether or not it's true."

Mary blinked.

"Orculus may not have had substantial magical strength, true, but he had something better. He had _imagination. _He had _ambition. _He had _charisma. _And most importantly, he had _presentation! _That, and a fair amount of skill with illusion at least. He may not have had a lot of tools to work with, but with what he had, he was able to manipulate and terrify people into believing he was greater than he actually was. He did a few tricks, exaggerated his personality, and let rumor and imagination do the rest. People thought he was great, and so he was great. That was the power he held over them, and it took three decades before anyone so much as suspected that he was a fraud. And in that time, he lived like a king. Now, Misha on the other hand…" Mima snorted in derision. "Oh, she was talented, no one is going to deny that. But she was just so meek and so afraid of her own ability that she's more remembered by her peers as an opportunity wasted than for any great accomplishment."

"What?" Mary gaped. "But-but everyone knows Misha the Weaver! She-"

"Yes, she helped found a sect of healers that still remains to this day," Mima interrupted. "I know, good for her. But the fact remains that, throughout her life, no one ever really respected her. She was manipulated and used by everyone she came across and died a miserable, fretful mess. Oh sure, she was patronized after her death, while Orculus has gone down in the books as a fake, but do you think that matters to them? One lived a life of power and luxury, while the other bit her nails and jumped at shadows. Tell me: which had the more power? The one who had very little talent but cleverly used what he had to great success, or the one who was born with everything, but squandered it away and became a tool for others?"

"Oh." Mary frowned, her little brain racing as she tried to comprehend this unorthodox teaching. "Well, when ya put it that way…"

"Exactly," Mima nodded. "Let me let you onto a little secret: it's not what you have, it's how you use it. People get so wrapped up with silly things like power levels and who has the most spells and whatnot. But someone who has three spells that they are able to wield with creativity is far more powerful than someone with a hundred that they barely know how to use." She poked Mary in the nose. "Remember that in your studies. It is far more profitable to learn one spell very well than learning all of them poorly."

"Huh." Mary rubbed her chin. "Never really thought about it like that, ze…" A slow grin spread over her face. "Well, I guess that makes sense. Okay, thanks Morgan!"

Mima nodded, and Mary ran back to her books. Mima was about to return to work when suddenly the girl piped up with another question. "Hey, Morgan?"

Sighing, Mima turned her chair around. "Yes?"

"Has there ever been anyone who had both? Like, they were really, really good at magic and had a bunch of spells, but they also had power like you said? With imagination and special effects and all that?"

Mima had to smile at that. "Yes, in fact there were."

"Really? Who?"

Oh gods, while it would have been an act of extraordinary hubris to name herself, even for her, Mima was sorely tempted to do just that. "Well, tell you what," she said instead. "Keep reading, and see if you can't spot them yourself."

Mary's head jiggled up and down. "Okay! I'll do that!" She picked up the book she had been reading and lost herself in what any other child would have considered dull history.

Mima shook her head. She had to admit, Mary's enthusiasm was endearing. Unfortunately, her lesson about the difference between power and strength could not apply to her. It was one thing to have a little and using it to create a lot. But what could someone with absolutely nothing hope to accomplish?

…

A couple of days later, Mima returned to the Kappa Village. Things hadn't changed noticeably since her last visit, though the Academy's foyer now held several empty display cases.

In the guise of a nondescript Kappa student, Mima wandered the polished marble room, her senses extended. The foyer had two levels, with the upper floor held up by grooved pillars along the edges of the room and a wide open space in the middle. All around, Mima could feel the rushing energies of the Academy's defenses, like a nest of coiled serpents. So long as she behaved herself and didn't threaten…well, anything, they would remain dormant. But the moment she knocked over a glass case or shot a fireball at someone's head, no doubt she would be beaten down and sealed away within five minutes.

The Takenostsue Joukuu's empty display case was off to the right side of the room. A youkai visitor was already there, looking in. Though she appeared to be female, her exact species was difficult to ascertain, given the concealing clothing she wore and the heavy hat covering most of her face. Mima frowned. There was something drawing her attention to this strange foreigner. She couldn't place it exactly, but her intuition was telling her that this person was worth paying attention to.

As Mima approached, the visitor glanced at her, coughed, and hurried away. As she left, Mima got enough of a look at her eyes to discern her species at least. Strange. What would one of the rabbits of the Bamboo Forest be doing in the Kappa Village? Granted, there were no hard feelings between the two communities, but the rabbits rarely left their villages, much less the forest itself. This little wanderer was a long way from home.

Her curiosity piqued, Mami spoke a hushed word and tagged the rabbit with a scrying spell. She would be able to peer in on her later at her leisure. For now, her interests lay with the display case. Mima walked up to it and peered in. The little description card was already in place.

_The Takenostsue Joukuu_

_Creator Unknown_

_Enchanted to gift whoever holds it with the ability to fly. Believed to be the progenitor of flight among the inhabitants of Gensokyo._

_On lend with thanks to Yukari Yakumo._

It was funny when Mima thought about it. Here she was spending so much thought and energy to steal something that, in only a few days' time, would be sitting in this very case. It just went to show that distance meant very little when it came to safety.

As she stood observing the empty case, she became aware of a conversation taking place nearby. And judging by the subject, it was relevant to her interests. Without changing her poise or expression, Mima listened.

"…_nay, for they were but wild vermin, skulking thus from the Wilds_," said an older Kappa gentleman, presumably someone with influence from the Academy board. _"Though by our strength the wretches were broken and scattered, my mind has been ill at ease, for another attempt shall surely take place."_

Linguistically speaking, the Kappa were a strange folk. They had a language that had apparently developed independently from the Gensokyian form of Japanese everyone else spoke, one that had its own grammatical rules and sentence structure. As such, they usually had a hard time learning Japanese, with the results edging toward the downright bizarre most of the time. And the language itself was incredibly archaic. There was a more casual form that non-native speakers preferred to use, but when conversing amongst themselves the Kappa usually preferred to use the older, more formal manner of speaking.

"_In this we are of one mind,"_ said a female. _"And if the whispers prove trustworthy, a fiend most foul is behind these attacks. They shall surely strike again, and though we have armed ourselves with great might, my head would rest easier by night knowing these treasures that we have been entrusted with were under the protection of a professional in such matters."_

A professional. Mima snorted. They were going overboard as it was, and a few would-be youkai thieves were making them panic. Though, given that Madam Mima herself was currently standing in the same room plotting to steal their prize exhibit, their paranoia was admittedly justified.

Then her senses caught note of someone else entering the room, a Human. It was well that Mima had an excellent poker face, because otherwise she might have betrayed herself with a sharp gasp of surprise.

"_Fear not, for one in possession with the necessary skills has already been enlisted,"_ the Kappa male said smugly. _"Lo and behold, she approaches!"_

Mima spared the quickest of glances over her shoulder. The Human was an old woman, wrinkled and greyed by the years but not bowed. Her poise was straight and she moved smoothly without pain. Though her eyes were somewhat yellowed, she still scanned the room with a hawk-like glare. Mima had no doubt that her vision was as sharp as ever.

Furthermore, she wore the red-and-white outfit of the Hakurei shrine maiden.

Miko Hakurei herself, still active despite her advanced years. Though her skin was drawn tight and marred by purple veins and liver spots, Mima was not about to underestimate her. She had done battle with numerous Hakurei shrine maidens in the past, some as young as the current one's child and some as old as the one entering the room, and she had long learned that even against someone as powerful as Mima, they had an unnerving tendency to win. Luck was as much on their side in battle as it was against them in prosperity, and given how reduced Mima was at the moment, she was not about to risk exposing herself.

Indeed, Miko's gaze paused as it passed over her. Yup, it was time to leave. Straightening, Mima walked toward the exit, appearing to all observers to be nothing more nondescript student going unhurriedly about her day. Everyone, that is, except Miko. Mima felt the shrine maiden's suspicious glare follow her as she moved from the room out into the passageway beyond.

It wasn't until she was long out of the shrine maiden's view that Mima allowed herself to relax. Well, this certainly complicated things. Given the rift between Miko and Yukari, she certainly had not expected the shrine maiden to be in any way involved. Maybe Miko didn't know that Yukari owned some of the objects being displayed. Either way, Mima was going to have to move very carefully from now on.

With a sigh, she ducked out of sight and teleported back to her hut.

…

"What in the world do you think you're _doing?"_

Mima stood with her mouth agape, staring down at the Human child. Caught red-handed, Mary looked up guiltily from her task. The girl had cleared a space on the floor and was drawing on the floorboards with chalk. Three open books, books that Mima knew for certain had been placed safely out of Mary's reach, sat around her.

"Uh," Mary said, cringing. "I'm…"

"You're attempting rune magic, aren't you?" Mima demanded. It was more of an accusation than a question, as it was quite obvious what the girl was doing.

"I just wanted to try!" Mary protested. "I thought-"

Instead of letting her finish her defense, Mima reached down and snatched Mary up by the forearm. Hauling the child into the air, Mima brought her up to yell into her face. "What were you _thinking?" _she all but roared. "I gave you clear instructions not to do magic without my expressed permission and supervision! Furthermore, I told you, with no room for doubt, that you were not to attempt rune magic until I had deemed you ready! Instead, you willingly disobeyed me, _stole _my personal tomes, and tried to draw a rune in the middle of my house. Without training! Do you have any idea the damage you could have caused? Never mind that those books are next to _priceless, _if you had drawn one symbol wrong, you could have sent the whole house up in flames!"

"I'm sorry!" Mary wailed. "I didn't mean to-"

"You didn't mean to?" Mima snarled as she gave the girl a hard shake. "Oh, that's so comforting. You didn't mean to. Yes, that makes everything better, and-" Then her eyes fell upon the rune itself. "Wait a minute, that's not bad."

Dropping Mary unceremoniously onto the floor, Mima knelt down to examine what Mary had been trying to accomplish. The symbol was made up of three circles: a thin inner one, a thicker middle one, with the outer ring being toothed like a gear. Around it were four clusters of three dots each. Three of the clusters were finished, while the fourth was only half-drawn. Apparently Mary had been coming very close to finishing it when Mima had interrupted her.

"Mary?" Mima said, staring. "What exactly were you trying to do with this?"

Still sprawled on the floor, Mary blinked stupidly at her. "Huh?"

Mima pointed at the unfinished rune. "What did you intend this to do?"

"Uh…make water bubbles."

Mima raised an eyebrow, silently signaling for her to elaborate.

Grimacing, Mary sat up and said, "I wanted to see if I could make it so water would make little balls and fly around in the air."

"Did you?" Mima said. "Why?"

Mary shrugged. "Coz I thought it'd be funny, ze."

Mima studied the rune further. Yes, it would accomplish that purpose. Those clusters of circles would cause the water to coalesce into spheres, and toothed circle would levitated them above the ground. And the two inner circles? The thicker one would cause them to swirl around in an orbit while the thin one would hold them in place.

But the thing was, while the rune made for a decent party trick that any half-competent magician could come up with, it wasn't included in any runic instruction manuals, at least none that Mima possessed. She looked over the books Mary had been using and saw that two were open to lists of the various symbols that went into rune construction while the third was a how-to manual.

"Mary," she said, still staring at Mary's workspace. "Care to explain how you got the idea for this rune?"

"Uh, okay." Looking confused, Mary walked over to the books and started pointing at various symbols. "Well, I was reading about all these pictures and what they do, and I figured that if I stuck these all together, they'd make water bubbles fly around in a circle, ze."

Mima stared at her. "So, you _invented _it?"

Mary shrugged. "I guess."

"Ah." Mima stared at her protégé's work a moment longer before shaking her head. "Well, I'll clean up here. Go finish your chores, and never touch my books again without permission. Understand?"

Surprised that she wasn't to be punished, Mary nodded and quickly made herself scarce.

Once the girl was gone, Mima knelt down again to examine the rune more closely. She checked every angle, measured every tooth of the outer circle. "Great spirits," she whispered. "She got it right!"

Part of the reason rune magic was considered deceptively difficult was that there was so little room for error. If a circle became too much like an oval or a star was just a little off-center, you risked sending whatever magic you were attempting to work out of balance, the consequences of which ranged from making it ineffective to downright explosive. Of course, a natural-born magician could easily discipline themselves to inscribe symbols properly; magician youkai especially seemed to have a knack for it. But those who had to work from the ground up required a great deal of training before they could be trusted to get it right.

And yet, this little seven-year-old girl had drawn each symbol perfectly on her first try. Everything was aligned correctly, and not a circle was out of place.

Drawn by curiosity, Mima picked up the chalk and finished the final cluster of circles. The run suddenly flashed white, signaling that it was active. She picked up a pitcher of water from the table and poured it into the center of the rings.

Before it hit the floor, the water congealed into seven freefloating spheres that started swirled around in the air like liquid planets.

…

Early the next morning, Mary awoke to find Mima staring down at her.

"Uh…" she said. "Hi? Am I in trouble?"

"Get up," Mima said.

Mary hastily scrambled out of bed. Mima walked over to her worktable, with the nervous girl trailing behind. "You're…you're not still mad at me, are you?" Mary said in a small voice. "Please don't send me away! I swear, I'll never do it again, I mean it this time, ze!"

"Stop talking," Mima said. "And sit down."

It was then that Mary saw that the books she had nicked the day before were already arrayed on the floor, joined by four more. All were already open, displaying information on runes. Frowning, she looked at each book in turn before looking quizzically at Mima.

"Today, you are going to learn rune magic," Mima told her.

Mary blinked. "But you said-"

"I know what I said. Disregard what I said then, and focus on what I'm saying now." Mima knelt down in front of the bewildered girl. "Now, as you obviously taught yourself yesterday, each rune is made up by symbols. In the magic world, we call these symbols-"

"Elements," Mary said.

This time, Mima wasn't even annoyed at being interrupted. "Exactly so. And as you no doubt know, each element corresponds to a certain kind of magic. One will harness fire, for example. Another controls thunder. Another will seal and trap magic. Another with seal and trap flesh, and so on. By arraying these elements together, they form a unified whole, each one contributing to a singular task."

Mary nodded. "But you gotta be real careful, 'cause if you put one on the left side when it's supposed to be on the right, it'll do something different."

"Precisely," Mima said. She almost beamed. "The arrangement of the elements is very important, and is different for every rune. Now," she nodded down to the books. "It's time for you to learn the elements."

Mary blinked. "All of them?"

"Yes. All of them."

Mary stared wide-eyed at her for a moment longer. Then she grinned with delight. "All right!"

It took some time. There were dozens of elements, and Mima made sure that Mary had memorized each and every one. Normally, such a lesson would be taken slowly: have her pupil learn a few at a time and master them before moving on to the next, but Mima want to test something.

Once they had gone through the whole list, it was almost noon. But they did not stop there. Mima then quizzed Mary relentlessly. First she conjured floating pictures of elements at random, each of them without a description, and demanded that the girl tell her what they meant. Then she told her the names of the elements and had her sketch each one on a roll of paper from memory. They kept at this for nearly the whole day, with Mima displaying and naming elements at random, forcing Mary to keep up.

"What element is this?"

"Fear!"

"And this?"

"Water-No, control!"

"This?"

"Uh…poison!"

Mima's relentless pace was hard on the girl, and soon her face was red with fatigue and frustration. But she didn't give up. Certainly, she made mistakes, but she was quick to correct them. Most of the time, she caught her error before Mima pointed it out, and it didn't take her long to provide the right answer. And all the while, Mima's astonishment grew.

Finally, in the early evening, Mima provided her with fresh paper and said, "All right. Now, I want you to draw three runes. The first is intended to make a doll get up and tapdance. The second is a trap that releases an overpowering feeling of pleasure while stealing away the will to continue. The third is to summon and trap but not paralyze the spirit of a water fairy."

By then, Mary's skin was covered with sweat and her hands were starting to tremble, but she steadied herself and threw herself into her task. Mima watched silently as the girl carefully drew each element, her eyes narrowed in focus and her tiny tongue sticking out of the corner of her mouth.

Finally, Mary finished the last rune. "Th-there," she said, sitting back. Her motor skills failed her, and she ended up falling over, where she lay motionless.

As the girl lay groaning, Mima examined each rune in turn. They had not activated because Mima had prevented magic from filling them, but she could still tell if they had been drawn correctly.

Even though it would only take a second or two for Mima to finish her inspection, a full five minutes went by before she pronounced, "Well done. These are…perfect."

"Th-they are?" Mary managed to raise her head. "I…I did it?"

Smiling, Mima affectionately smoothed the girl's hair. "Yes, you did."

"Oh." Mary's head fell back and she smiled. "Good."

Mima carefully picked the girl up and laid her in the bed. Mary was so exhausted that she didn't even make a peep.

"Take a nap for now," Mima said. "I'll wake you later for dinner and a bath."

"S'kay," Mary muttered. Moments later she was snoring.

Mima did intend to prepare a full meal for the girl. The gods knew she could probably use one right now. But she still had to stand and stare at the tiny form sleeping on the bed, gawky limbs splayed out around her and a sliver of drool leaking out of the corner of her mouth.

This was…a very interesting development. Mima's mind was racing, a conclusion forming. If she was right, then her earlier assessment of Mary's situation was false. Perhaps her complete lack of magical ability was not a crippling deformity but instead due payment to balance out a truly wondrous gift.

The girl could not use magic, it was true. Normally, this would be seen as crippling. But in its place, she had a far rarer talent: she _understood _magic, or at least that was what Mima hypothesized. Most practitioners simply learned enough of a spell to permit them to cast it. Some eventually mastered enough of the art to become creative, magical theory was a difficult topic to pursue. The main reason was that the actual structure of many of the spells that magicians took for granted were incredibly complex, considering the lines of power that formed between their conscious will and the energy moving around them.

But there were those who were able, with training, to comprehend the balance of forces at play. Some had a special talent for it, Mima being a prime example; youkai magicians especially seemed to have a knack for that sort of thing. But in general, it took years of practice to correctly comprehend the delicate strands of power that had to be manipulated to create something new.

However, if Mima's theory held true, Mary didn't have that problem. The ease with which she mastered runes indicated that the girl's genius went beyond simply having a knack. The girl may very well be a prodigy. And if so, if this wasn't just an indication of something so simple as a photographic memory, then the possibilities were…

Well, for starters that whole lack of magic problem was more of a handicap than a crippling deformity. With some work, Mary would very well be able to overcome it and learn how to use magic. And from there? Well, given her passion and drive, she could be great. No, not just great. _Amazing. _A master. The very first bit of magic she had done was to invent a rune on the spot. What else could she come up with? What exciting new spells could she create? What old ones could she dissect and improve? Mima was growing giddy just thinking about it.

Then her smile disappeared. Oh wait, she wasn't going to do any of that stuff. She was going to die in a few weeks' time, sacrificed to the Receptacle.

But…but that was such a waste, and Mima abhorred waste. To let such an opportunity slip by should be unthinkable! Maybe she could find some other…But no, there was no time, and she would never find someone as perfect for this as Mary.

Mima let out a sigh. Well, she had to see to her own matters first. The Hakurei Shrine needed to be her first priority. In her state, she was in no condition to be taking on apprentices. Such a shame though. What a waste…

Shaking her head, Mima mentally steadied herself. She couldn't afford to be making such leaps. She had to remain practical.

And speaking of which…

Mima checked the seeker spell she had planted on that rabbit she had encountered the day before. To her mild surprise, it was gone.

Hmmm, that was interesting. That only way that could be possible was if someone of significant skill had found the spell and deactivated it. Mima smiled. Well, the spell might be lost, but by destroying it they had as good as painted a large flaming sign over the Bamboo Forest of the Lost that said, "Suspicious Characters Within!" Perhaps this was the lead she had been looking for.

…

Though her work with the Academy continued to occupy much of her time, Mima's curiosity concerning the girl finally got the best of her. And so, leaving Mary in an enchanted sleep (she did not trust her to not start drawing runes on every flat surface, promise or no), the spirit cloaked her form and went to the Human Village.

Mima's relationship with the Humans and their capital was a long and amusing one. For some reason, they seemed to consider her an arch-enemy of sorts, when in truth she bore them no more actual malice than any other species. True, she had warred on Humans in the past, had slaughtered them by the hundreds, sacrificed them by the dozens (soon to be dozens plus one), enslaved them whenever she could (which was often), and had personally razed the Human Village on at least one occasion, but that was just the way of things. She had done the same to youkai, fairies, spirits, and any other magical creature without number, but did they complain?

Well, yes, but not nearly to the same degree.

Perhaps they had reason though. Most of the youkai she had killed in her time were still walking around, while Humans tended to take this "Death" thing a little personally. Mortals were fragile like that, and despite their short lives, they had long memories. Not longer than Mima's, but their ability to hold a grudge was impressive and admirable.

But at any rate, they had their limits. Though they had not forgotten her, it had been so long since they had last clashed that they no longer saw her face in every shadow. It was something of an annoyance, as Mima worked hard keep appearances up, but today it served her well. She was able to disable the defensive wards without being noticed and sail right in through the front gate.

The place was dressed up for Christmas, with twinkling candles and holly boughs being slung everywhere, and a great big decorated tree in the middle of the town. She perched on top of the tree's golden star and watched as the village's denizens went about their day through the snow: buying, selling, working, and playing, all blissfully unaware that their so-called nemesis was among them. She idly wondered what would happen if she were to reveal herself and do something clichéd like hurl a fireball into their midst. It would probably be hilarious, but not likely to end in her favor.

What was different was that there were considerably fewer youkai about. Back in the day, there used to be a fair few: merchants, workers, friends, and the like. Not so anymore. She picked out the odd one here and there (and nervous looking ones at that), and a couple of fairies hiding in a nearby shrub, but on the whole it seemed that the Human Village now frowned on those not of its kind.

Mima knew why. About ten years or so ago, the old Leader had died, and his son had taken his place. From all accounts, his views of nonhumans was…a bit on the negative side, reportedly due to his brother fallen victim to a pack of wild youkai. And on top of that, the unfortunate man's young daughter had been there to watch, and was now a few bats short of a belfry as a result. Not exactly something that would endear a man to a species.

Mima didn't particularly care though. Prejudices came and went, and in all likelihood, once a few generations had gone by, the animosity would be forgotten and youkai would once again be as welcome as they had been in the past. It was worth making note of, though. Bigots were laughably easy to manipulate, especially those with concrete reason.

In the meantime, she wasn't here for the social climate. Glancing around, she spied what she was looking for: a short, square wooden pillar on which were nailed dozens of pieces of paper, each one with a picture, a name, and some kind of description.

Being mortal, Humans lived their whole lives in peril. It was safer behind the village's walls, but even that wasn't a guarantee. Gensokyo was a dangerous place, and many times people would simply disappear. That pillar was where their families and friends would post their pictures, in hopes that someone would be able to help. At least, that was the idea, but more often than not they were never seen again, meaning that the pillar served more as a memorial.

Mima floated down from her perch and circled around the pillar, examining each face in turn until she found the one she wanted.

A redheaded girl, proclaimed to be nine years old (a surprise; Mima had thought her younger. That girl was certainly scrawny for her age), grinned out from the paper. Below was the name "Mary Kirisame," along with the claim that she had been snatched from her bed. Youkai kidnappers were suspected.

Chuckling at the naiveté, Mima checked the address and went out to find it, but then her eyes fell upon a storefront that declared itself to be the Kirisame Second-Hand Store. Above it was an apartment, and the address of both store and home matched the one on the paper.

Well, that had been easy.

Mima went inside. As the name declared, the shop was a clutter of used clothing, tools, furniture, and other various odds and ends. A few customers milled about, hunting for bargains, but none looked as if they were related to the girl she had back at her house.

Behind the counter was a tall, scholarly looking man with shaggy, silver hair. He wore a pair of thick spectacles and spoke calmly to a customer. A quick glance also confirmed that he was no relation of Mary's, but his conversation was of interest.

"No, I'm afraid he is still indisposed," he told the elderly woman. "And he has requested that he be left alone in the meantime, and until a time in which he chooses to appear, it would be best to leave him be."

The old woman clicked her tongue. "The poor man. Has there been no word?"

The shopkeeper shook his head. "None, I'm afraid." He hesitated, and said, "Though, he does still hope."

"Well, that's good at least," the woman said, shaking her head. "I know he doesn't care much for our prayers, but please let him know that he's in our thoughts. Past disagreements aside, he is still one of us, and it hurts us to see him suffer so."

"I'll do so, and thank you."

Well, it looked like Mima was in the right place. She floated past the counter, heading toward the stairs to the back. As she passed the solemn shopkeeper, she spared another glance at him and smirked. She wondered if his employer and neighbors knew of his heritage. It would cause quite the stir to discover a half-youkai among their number.

She found what she was looking for upstairs. There, an older, heavyset man with a thick, black beard was kneeling before a small, makeshift shrine. Such constructions were a common thing in the Human houses, but this one was a bit different, given that its centerpiece was a polished wooden cross in front of a portrait of the Virgin Mary holding her miracle child in her arms. Surrounding it were several lit candles.

The man was deep in prayer. He held a rosary to his lips as he fervently pleaded with his Lord and Savior for his daughter's safe return. Amused, Mima watched him, wondering if the White God could even hear him from here. Gensokyo was a bit outside of His jurisdiction, after all.

At any rate, Mima had confirmed two things. The first was that the man's faith was exactly as she had supposed, though there had been little doubt of that anyway. And a quick inspection of the rest of the house further added credence to the theory that his forbearers had been part of that nasty little religious uprising a few years back, if the molding weapons and pamphlets were anything to go by.

The second was that, despite obvious disagreements between him and his daughter, he did love Mary dearly. No doubt part of him blamed himself for her disappearance, while the other part insisted that she had been taken by others and their arguments had nothing to do with it. He was probably still wondering which possibility was the most terrible. Funnily enough, both were true.

Then she came across a picture that had nothing to do with his dogmatic faith. It showed a lovely woman with red hair. She was of Western heritage, and the resemblance to Mary was uncanny. Mima wondered if Mary's mother had met her end in much the same way as Master Sonozika's brother had, only murdered by magic rather than youkai. It would go a way to explaining Master Kirisame's distaste for it.

Mima looked back to Mary's father and his desperate supplication. He was a pathetic, broken specimen of a man. She felt no pity for him though, only contempt.

"You had your chance," Mima said told him. "She could have been great, had you recognized what you had. Now, your daughter is lost forever, and you have no one to blame but yourself. Keep right on praying, see how much good it does you."

Though he couldn't hear her, his face clenched up and his mutterings took on a new level of urgency.

Rolling her eyes, Mima turned and left the house. What a waste. Had the child been born almost anywhere else, her gifts could have been recognized and made use of. Instead, she was doomed to feed the Receptacle. There was a certain cruel irony in that, but Mima was feeling too annoyed to enjoy it.

As she passed over the store's threshold, she paused, looked over her shoulder, and sighed again before continuing.

What a waste.

…

Mima continued her observation of the Academy, both from afar and occasionally in person. Most of her time was seeking out weak spots in both the magical and technological system. Such things always existed, and if she managed to find them all, she could bring the whole thing down with a simultaneous attack. It was dangerous work, and unfortunately she was able to locate only a few. However, from those she learned something very interesting.

Curious devices had begun to appear on the weak spots: small sticky black balls, tucked away where a cursory examination would overlook them. They were not part of the original system; Mima could see that at once. A quick inspection confirmed what she suspected: they were disruption charges, designed to attack the nodes on which they rested once activated.

So, she did have competition after all, and their own plan was well underway. They were good too. Mima could never catch them in the act of placing those charges, and yet they continued to appear.

However, there was one spot that they seemed unable to reach. It was tucked away in a maintenance tunnel, one that extended to the outside of the Academy. There, the security was especially tight, with both motion sensors and magic detectors. Mima herself wasn't sure if she could get to it. She wondered if her unseen rival knew of the node and was in the same position as her, or if they hadn't discovered it yet.

In the meantime, Mima had another thing to keep an eye on. Miko Hakurei was in and out, but it soon became apparent that though she had been hired to ensure the exhibits' safety, the Kappa had not paid her enough to monopolize all her time. Mima had to admire the woman. Despite her advanced years, she still insisted on doing her duty, or at least as much as circumstances would allow. Between doing security for the Kappa (and really, how had they managed to convince her to do that?) and taking care of her child, there was little time for patrolling. The wild youkai would feast well this winter.

At any rate, with her charms added to the defenses the Kappa already had in place, the Academy was looking more and more like a fortress. Mima was starting to grow concerned. From whence came this paranoia? It was one thing to hear that someone was planning on breaking into your storage room and walk off with a priceless historical artifact and respond accordingly, but this was just ridiculous.

Well, she supposed that since a number of the artifacts belonged to Yukari Yakumo, a measure of paranoia was merited. Losing one of her toys was a great way to earn a one-way trip to the outer solar system. But even so, Mima strongly suspected that the fear came from both fronts: both from the owner of the relics and the one that desired to take them.

To that end, Mima resolved to uncover the identity of this mystery thief. Knowing who she was competing against might provide the answers she sought, as well as the key to obtaining the staff.

Soon the Academy had a set of new wards set up around its perimeter, though they didn't know it. If anyone showed up that wasn't supposed to be there, Mima would know it before they did.

In the meantime, Mary's lessons with Mima took on a different form. Gone were the targets and special effects. Out came the books, scrolls, and tablets. It was much like the personal studies Mima had been having Mary do, except now the elder magician was directly involved.

Mima had to admit, she was downright fascinated. Though Mary had a child's limitations and there were still many, many things beyond the scope of her small mind, she was able to pick out patterns in even the most complex spell structures where most people would just see a confusing mess.

It was during one such lesson that Mary suddenly asked for some cloth.

"Cloth?" Mima frowned. "Whatever do you need cloth for?"

"I wanna sew something," Mary said. She was lying on her stomach, poking at swirling drops of water with a straw. Mima had allowed her to try out that rune she had invented, and the girl was enthralled by her success.

"Sew something? You sew?"

"Uh-huh."

"Really. And what may I ask do you wish to sew?"

"It's a secret," Mary said evasively.

Mima was amused. "A secret?"

"Uh-huh. Can't tell you."

"And does this secret involve trying to work magic behind my back?"

Mary shook her head. "Uh-uh."

"And does it involve anything that might constitute a danger to me and my belongings?"

"Uh-uh."

Well, she wasn't lying; Mima could discern that much. She might as well indulge the girl; it wasn't as if it were going to matter much longer. "Oh, very well," Mima said. "Just don't let it distract you from your real-"

Then she perked up. One of her wards at the Academy had finally gone off.

"Pardon me for a moment," she told Mary, and stepped into the other room. One there, she immediately began a scrying.

The picture she got was very brief. A figure wearing some sort of breathing apparatus was swimming through the waters of the lake around the dome of the Academy, near where one of the weak spots was located. They wore a skintight black outfit, made of some strange fabric that no doubt confused Kappa sensors and rendered them virtually invisible to most forms of detection. They had likely brushed up against Mima's ward without knowing it was there, or else she wouldn't have detected them either. From the look at things, they were swimming away very quickly. A quick check confirmed that another one of those little charges had been planted. Bingo.

Even though she had gotten only a short glance at the thief, those bulges beneath the skintight swim-cap they had been wearing were quite noticeable. Mima replayed the image over and over, each time studying the retreating figure closely. It was as she had suspected. The knowledge made her laugh out loud. It was another rabbit. She had her thief.

So, why would a rabbit of the Bamboo Forest of the Lost want to rob the Kappa? They wouldn't, but they were in league with someone that might. Mima had to grin. Deep within that bewildering forest was a hidden mansion, unknown to the majority of Gensokyo. And within it dwelt two exiled Lunarians, and very important ones at that. Mima had been keeping half an eye on them ever since their arrival, in case the opportunity to profit from them arose. She had already repaid an old debt by sending one of their ancient enemies their way, and last she had heard, vengeance was still be extracted on a regular basis. Beyond that, they seemed content to remain where they were, out of sight.

But now it seemed that they were finally interacting with the rest of Gensokyo, via burglary. Mima still wasn't sure why, though now she had her suspicions. One of the two exiles was a noted collector of the old and valuable, while the other had a highly inquisitive scientific mind, a rarity in Gensokyo. Either one of them would be interested in the staff.

But whatever their reason, if it was them, Mima now had a place to start. It was time to pay Eientei a visit.

…

Despite being well-established for centuries in the Outside World, Christmas was still a relative newcomer in Gensokyo, having only been celebrated for the last handful of decades or so. Granted, Gensokyo's inhabitants, mortal and immortal alike, had found the holiday to be quite appealing and had been quick to adopt it into their culture once they had been made aware of it, but it had taken its sweet time coming in.

What most people didn't know was that while the odd settlement here and there had been aware of and in some cases even celebrated Christmas for quite some time, the ones to introduce it to the "mainstream" had actually been the Lunarian exiles themselves. Apparently, one of them, the immortal princess, had discovered it by chance, liked what she heard, and immediately ordered the first large-scale Christmas party on the spot. From there, it had spread to the rabbit tribes, and from them to the wild youkai and fairies, until everyone was merrily getting into the holiday spirit while remaining unaware of its origin.

It was poor behavior for supposed refugees in hiding in Mima's opinion, but they hadn't been discovered yet, so they must be doing something right. At any rate, after the overwhelming success of their first party, they had continued the tradition by throwing an over-the-top Christmas bash every year.

Though the day itself was still a few days away, the place was bustling with preparations. Trees were being cut down, dragged onto the premises, hoisted up, and covered with ostentatious ornaments. Local larders were being emptied and made ready for the feast. And the mansion itself was now so colorful that it almost hurt Mima's eyes. Rabbits were running around everywhere, making sure everything was ready.

Good thing too, as while Eientei's defenses were better than the Human Village's, all the chaos and confusion allowed Mima to locate the wards, disable them, and slip right in without being noticed.

Ignoring all the rabbits going about their business, Mima floated over their heads, her sharp eyes missing nothing as she sought out her target.

It didn't take long. Rounding a corner, she saw door with a sign on it declaring, "Eientei Infirmary." Mima tested the door, and finding it to be unwarded against spirits, passed through.

Inside was an attractive but severe looking woman with long, braided silver hair and stormcloud colored eyes. She was dressed in a blue and red dress patterned with constellations, and wore a hat of the same design, fronted by a medical cross. She was having a hushed discussion with an older female rabbit, one that was still wearing that skintight swimmer's outfit. Bingo.

"…had been spotted, we would have known by now," she said. "So far, no alarms have been triggered, so there's a fair chance you got away unnoticed, but I wouldn't relax until we know for certain. We still don't know who planted that seeker on Shiina."

Mima smirked.

"In the meantime, keep an eye on things. As soon as the rest of the charges are set, we'll be ready to move. Until then, keep silent about all you've learned."

The rabbit nodded gravely. She touched her hand to her ear and briskly left.

Sighing, the woman walked over to a small desk in the room's corner and wearily sat down. She unlocked a drawer and pulled out a handful of papers. Mima hovered in close. This had to be it.

Then the woman paused. Frowning, she raised her voice and said, "You might as well announce yourself instead of skulking over there."

Mima froze. Damn it all, what had she missed?

But before she took action, the door creaked open and a rabbit girl hesitantly poked her head in. Behind her fidgeted a small youkai child. Mima raised her eyebrows. Unlike the other rabbit youkai infesting the place, this one was of Lunarian origin. Strange, she hadn't been aware of a third exile. "I-I'm sorry to bother you, Eirin," she said. "But the princess is looking for you. She thinks Mokou is going to try something again this year, and wants to know if you can, uh, make her…not do something."

Eirin rolled her eyes. "If so, that pyromaniac should have remembered my last lesson." She nodded to the rabbit. "Very well, tell Kaguya that I'll see to jogging Mokou's memory. In the meantime, please see to it that I'm not disturbed again. I'm in the middle of something important."

"Okay." The Lunarian rabbit quickly shut the door to make a hasty exit. Mima was about to put her from her mind when she did a sudden double-take. What in the world?

Curious, Mima floated over to the door and poked her head through. The rabbit girl was walking quickly down the hallway, with the youkai child following and holding her hand. Mima stared at the child. What in the world was a _Kirin _doing in Eientei? And a child no less! The Kirin were both a powerful and influential people, and fiercely protected their young. To think that one might have gone astray and ended up here of all places…

Mima shook her head. Well, well, well, this place was full of surprises.

Logging that information away for possible further use, Mima returned to the infirmary. Behind the desk, Eirin had spread the papers before her and was carefully examining them. Mima hovered over her and looked at each in turn, committing them to memory.

One was of particular interest. It was of a blueprint, displaying the Kappa Academy of Arts, both interior and exterior. Overlaid were two glowing networks of lines, one in white and one in red, with blinking dots indicating specific points.

Mima grinned. It was the same networks she had been mapping out, both the magical one and the one that relied on technology, and the blinking dots indicated the weak spots. Only Eirin's was far more complete. At least, it had been. Now Mima's was as well. Jackpot.

Eirin examined her map. Most of the nodes were glowing purple, with only two in white. "Two more," she whispered, tapping her finger against the white dots. "Should have them by the end of the week."

It was all Mima could do to keep from gloating. Eirin's map lacked the node in the maintenance shaft. She was one weak spot short, one that Mima was aware of. Furthermore, as Mima examined the map, she realized that it wasn't out of her reach after all.

From what she could see, the final node corresponded to the magical network. Once Eirin's remaining two nodes were disrupted, the technological system would fall, and the magical one would still be heavily damaged, though it wouldn't go down. As such, only the shaft's magic detectors would be active. Those were sneaky things. They kept an eye out for any magic that exceeded what would naturally be found in the air and annihilated it. And that included living things. Even a normal Human's ability with danmaku would set it off.

Of course, Mima could never enter the shaft, and any spell she sent in would be taken out. But how fortunate that she had someone in her possession that possessed no magic at all. And with the detectors damaged by Eirin's charges, that someone would be able to slip in and plant a charge of their own. Eirin's heist was about to get some unexpected help. What a shame she wouldn't reap any benefits from it.

Breathing out a long breath, Eirin packed up the maps and put them away. "Okay, this is going to work," she mumbled. "We'll be in soon enough."

_Good to hear, _Mima thought smugly. _Race you there._

…

"What exactly are you doing?"

Again Mary was caught red-handed, but this time she was not ashamed. Grinning up at her stunned mentor, she said, "Hi Morgan! I got a Christmas tree, ze!"

She had indeed. A felled pine now lay on its side in front of the door. It wasn't a particularly large or full one, but pines were in short supply in that part of Gensokyo, so likely Mary had to settle for what she could find.

But of greater interest to Mima wasn't the tree's condition but how it had come to be there at all. It was still far too large for the girl to have hauled back by herself. "You got a Christmas tree," she repeated, still not sure if she believed what she saw.

"Uh-huh. For Christmas. It's coming up, you know!"

"Yes, I am aware. But…" Mima shook her head, trying to find the right words. "How did it get here? You…" She was struck with a sudden suspicion. "Wait, were you using rune magic again? Even after I specifically forbid you?"

"Nope!" the girl said proudly. "I got help!"

Mima frowned. "Explain."

In answer, Mary ran over to the side of the house and pointed. There, cowering with her hands covering her head, was the same Chochinobake that had hunted Mary when Mima had found her. The youkai's face was as white as a sheet, and she trembled and muttered under her breath.

"Saw her wandering around outside," Mary told Mima. "And I told her that if she don't help me find a tree and bring it back, I would Ze her again! So she did!"

The youkai's head suddenly jerked up. Seeing Mima staring down at her, she gulped and quickly stood up. "Ah, it is the Morgan of the Fairies!" she said, her voice a bit too loud. "N-no problems meant by us being here! We was only trying to help the little one bring the leafies back!" She nervously licked her lips. "Please don't be Zeing us again. It hurts."

Mima felt quite beside herself, which was not something she was accustomed to. Looking the youkai straight in the eye, she said, "Begone."

That was all the encouragement the Chochinobake needed. Snatching her lantern off the ground, she turned and bolted into the forest.

Once she was gone, Mima turned to Mary and said, "Mary? Correct me if I'm wrong, but did you take advantage of our previous encounter with that wretched creature and deceive her into doing your will?"

"Yup!" Mary grinned. "It's like you said. You know, about power?"

"Yes, indeed," Mima murmured. "Though you are aware that doing so carried a huge risk. If she chose not to believe you, you might have been eaten."

"Nah. See, I saw her creeping around the front…er, do you have a front lawn under the snow?"

"No, but you may refer to it as such."

Mary nodded. "Okay, she was near the front lawn. So I went out and told her to find me a pine tree, ze. But I made sure to stay behind all your wards. If she had attacked, she would've gotten blown up. And I told her if she didn't come back, I would send a bunch of fireballs after her, so I didn't have to go with her. Just make her too scared to run away." She pointed at the tree. "And it worked!"

Indeed it did. Mima took a deep breath. "Mary. This is _not _something I say often and do not foresee saying again in the near future, but…"

"Yeah?"

Mima exhaled. "I am…impressed."

Mary beamed.

Mima helped Mary bring the tree into the house and set it up. It wasn't something she would have allowed under normal circumstances, but damn it, the kid had earned her tree. According to Mary, she didn't think Mima would appreciate having that Chochinobake go inside, so she had her leave it by the front door until Mima had returned. In that, Mary had been correct. Not only was the girl a quick learner who thought outside the box, but she was proving to be quite discerning as well.

As Mima looked in bemusement at the Christmas tree now standing tall amidst all her tools of sorcery and dark magic, she reflected on the bitter irony of the situation. Here she was, leading a magicless child along in a faux-teacher/student relationship so as to fatten her up for the slaughter, and the girl was still managing to be a better student of the arts than many that Mima had actually trained. True, she couldn't actually use magic, but she was grasping Mima's lessons more quickly than should be possible. And not only that, she was taking her _real _lessons to heart. Mima still intended to hold her course, but blast it all, why couldn't she have found this girl at a different time?

"Hey, Morgan?" Mary asked suddenly. "Where do you go all the time?"

Mima shook herself out of the reverie. Ah well, back to business. "Good question. And actually, I've been meaning to talk to you about that."

"Huh?"

Kneeling down, Mima smiled and affectionately cupped Mary's cheek. "How would you feel about helping me with a real important project?"

…

Getting Mary into the Kappa Village had been easy. Relations between the Humans and those slimy amphibians were quite amiable at the moment, and with the upcoming exhibit there were more than a few tourists making their way below the lake. So all they had to do was walk up to the submarine dock and buy a ticket.

Once inside, Mima found that keeping Mary from running around to be more difficult than she had anticipated. The girl was ecstatic at being in an underwater village, and couldn't go two meters without finding something she had to check out that very second.

"Focus, child," she said, yanking her away from another porthole. "We are here for a reason, not to see the sights."

"Right!" Mary nodded. She scrunched her face up in concentration. "Okay, let's see if I got this. So, there's a magic stick thingy that's not useful anymore, but because it's real old, it's still worth a lot of money."

Mima nodded. "Correct."

"And there's this one lady that wants it, and this other lady that wants to sell it to her. So, we're going to steal it to give to the second lady, and she'll be so happy that she's gonna let us have one of her magic thingies!"

"Essentially, yes."

Mary continued, "But the first lady is gonna try to take it herself so she won't have to pay anyone. And since getting to the stick is gonna be real hard, we're gonna let her do all the hard work, snatch it out from under her nose, and run away laughing while everyone blames her!"

"Right." Mima held up a finger. "Except for one thing…"

Mary nodded. "There's a part they don't know about and can't get to, but I can! So, while they're all doing that other stuff, I have to crawl into this tube thingy and put this ball thingy on the…what's it called again?"

"Node."

Yeah, that," Mary said. She punched her fist into her palm. "Then we wait for everything to come crashing down, screw the bunnies over, and walk off with the stick!

"Not so loud!" Mima warned. She glanced around. They were near the maintenance shaft, and people rarely came back her. But it paid to be careful. "But yes, you have the right of it."

"Great!" Mary grinned She looked around. "So…what are we waiting for?"

Mima took up position next to the shaft. "The signal to begin."

"Oh." Mary frowned. "And what's that?"

Mima affectionately ruffled her hair. "You'll know it when you see it. But first, the distraction."

"The what?"

…

Not too far from the Academy was Meetoko's Bar and Grill, a popular hangout for the students. Thanks to the influx of tourists and academics the upcoming exhibition was bringing in, Meetoko's was bustling. Drinks were being poured, food was being consumed, and drunken idiots were being bounced. Naturally, this was delighting the owners, bartenders, and waitresses and irritating everyone who worked there and didn't receive tips.

Chief among them was Napo, the busboy. Grumbling to himself, the overworked Kappa hoisted yet another bag of trash over his shoulder and clomped over to the compactor. He was clocking in his third hour of overtime and if he had to clean up one more puddle of vomit, he was going to start making some of his own.

He kneed the Open button, and the metal jaws of the compactor clanked open. Wow, that thing was getting full. Time to squish everything again. Napo tossed the bag in and activated the crushers.

He was about to leave when something drew his attention. Wait, was that a ticking sound? Strange, there shouldn't be anything that-

…

Mary jumped when the corridor started rumbling. "What's that?" she said, her eyes darting back and forth.

"Oh, just a small focused explosion followed by several gallons of lakewater rushing in to ruin everyone's day," Mima explained. Though she was smiling, she felt troubled. Why was the Lunarian risking so much to obtain a curiosity? "That's going to be expensive."

"An explosion?" Mary's eyes went wide. "Cool! Can I go see?"

"No, stay put. Your part is coming up in…" Mima checked her internal clock. "About thirty-seven seconds now."

…

It is said that supposed foolproof plans often underestimate the ingenuity of fools. In this case though, the same principle applied, but the roles were reversed. Eirin Yagokoro was no fool, but while clever, the Kappa engineers could be called fools in comparison. Because for all their precautions, they completely failed to noticed the tiny black spheres nestled throughout the Academy.

But when each sphere activated, then they took notice. Unfortunately, by then it was too late to do anything about it.

…

"Success," breathed Shiina, the leader of the Eientei Sabotage and Recovery Team. She had Eirin's enchanted map of the Kappa Academy open before her. As she watched, the dots representing the disruption charges Eirin had given them flared brightly, and the Kappa's security network vanished. As if to punctuate the point, all the lights went off.

"All right," she said, folding the map up. "Let's get moving before-"

"Hang on," said one of the others. "Let me see that."

The map was opened again, and the rabbits leaned in. To their dismay, while the technological defenses had been knocked out, the magical ones, while faltering, were still holding on.

"What happened?" Shiina said in alarm. "All the charges went off, didn't they? Why aren't they falling?"

…

"There!" Mima said as all the lights went out. "That's your cue. Do your job and be quick about it!"

Mary saluted. "Aye, aye!" With that, she scampered into the tube like a fleeing rat into its hole and was gone.

…

Had she been a little older, Mary would have found the Kappa's maintenance tube to be uncomfortably cramped. As it was, it was still a tight space to move through. She had to lie on her belly and use her hands to propel herself forward while pushing with her feet. Fortunately, there were small grooves set in the metal surface to make her task easier, presumably for the use of anyone needing to make repairs. Still, it was hard going.

She didn't mind though. Finally, she was doing some useful, something to help Morgan! It was a dangerous task, true, but that only made it more exciting. The only thing that could make it better was if she could use magic, but Morgan had been very clear on that: any sort of spell would make the remaining security activate and kill her on the spot. That was why it had to be Mary; since she had only started her training, her magic wasn't strong enough to be detected.

In the darkness of the tube, she could actually see the Kappa's magical defenses: shimmering lines sparkled along the wall like the web of a spider made from sunlight. Though she didn't dare speak, Mary couldn't stop grinning. This was so cool!

It didn't last long though. Rounding a corner, Mary saw the node Morgan had described: a place where all the glowing lines came to together in a thick cluster. Licking her dry lips, she stuck her hand into her pocket and pulled out that sticky black ball she had been given and peeled off the silvery covering. Then she pressed it to the center of the tangle. Just like Morgan had said, it stuck and beeped.

Mission accomplished. Barely able to keep from giggling in delight, Mary backpedaled, moving backward through the tube as fast as her skinny limbs could propel her.

…

Mima had to admit, she was a little antsy while Mary was in the tube. While she was sure that the wards would be unable to detect her, she was still trusting the success of the mission to an excitable Human child. One ill twist of fate and the whole thing would come crashing down.

Well, if worst came to worst, she could always send a disruption spell flying through the tube. Granted, it would turn the whole bloody thing on as it went, but maybe it would be able to move fast enough to hit the node before the alarms went off. Maybe.

_What about Mary? _whispered her worry.

_What about her? _she thought back. _If I have to resort to that, she'll be lost anyway._

_If she is caught, they won't kill her. But a disruption spell certainly would, at that range._

_So? She's the expendable one anyway._

Was it her imagination, or did that inner voice start laughing? _Then why are you gnawing on your lip?_

This couldn't be good. Now she was experiencing self-doubt and emotional conflict. Clearly her incomplete state was starting to erode her psyche. The sooner this business was done with and she was reunited with the rest of herself, the better.

Then she heard the sound of shuffling. Hardly daring to hope, Mima bent over and peered into the tube.

To her relief, she soon saw Mary's backside quickly moving toward her. The girl, scampered out of the tube on all floors. Once out, she stood up straight and saluted. "All done, boss!"

Mima's smile was entirely genuine. "Well done," she whispered. "Well done indeed." She glanced into the tube. "All right, any second now…"

…

"Oh, wait, there it goes," Shiina said. On the map, the red network finally sputtered and vanished. "Just a delayed reaction, I guess."

A wave of relief passed through her team. Even though they were the best Eientei had to offer, rabbits still weren't well equipped for these kinds of stressful situations.

Stowing the map, Shiina motioned to the others to follow her. "Come on, we've only got a few minutes. Let's get this done."

…

Thanks to the panic caused by the flooding next door and the loss of power, the hallways around the Academy's storerooms were wonderfully clear. Mima and Mary made their way uninhibited, following the map in the disguised spirit's head.

Soon they came in sight of the room where the relics were being held. But instead of going inside, Mima motioned for Mary to stand behind her. The two thieves remained in the shadows, waiting.

They didn't have to wait long. Five figures appeared coming the other way. They were dressed in all black and had concealing hoods pulled down over their ears. Those could not be comfortable, but it did help keep their species a secret from unseen eyes.

As Mima and Mary watched, the rabbits quickly broke the lock to the storeroom and rushed in, leaving the door open behind them. Taking that as their cue, Mima and Mary crept in behind them, concealed by Mima's cloaking spell.

The inside of the room had several large boxes arranged on three metal tables. The boxes on the rearmost table were all marked with a purple oval, tied off at both ends by a tiny ribbon, with an all-seeing eye in the middle. It took no great leap of object to figure out who those belonged to.

One of the boxes was longer and thinner than the others. Some sort of description was written on the side. Mima peered over the heads of her competition. Yup, there it was. The Takenostsue Joukuu was within her grasp.

The rabbits rushed toward the table. Mima grinned as they picked up the box containing the staff. Oh, this was going to be hilarious. She readied herself for the big reveal.

Then they carefully set the box aside and went one of the smaller ones that had been stacked directly under it. Mima faltered. Wait, what was going on?

"This is it," one of them breathed. Opening the box, she reverently took out an ancient looking bowl, carved from stone. The other rabbits smiled with relief.

"At last," another whispered.

Mima gaped in confusion. Then with a flash she realized her mistake. The Takenostsue Joukuu had not been the only treasure to be put on display. As such, it was perfectly reasonable that a second set of thieves would be targeting something else entirely. This must be one of those fabled Lunarian treasures that dimwitted princess used to send her unwitting suitors to find. Mima silently groaned and buried her face in her palm. Damn it all, she really needed to start paying more attention. This was just sloppy.

At any rate, at least it didn't upset her own plans. She took Mary by the hand and indicated that they should wait by the wall. Though the girl was plainly bewildered by the sudden change in direction, she didn't protest. They watched as the rabbits slipped the bowl into a protective case and moved toward the door.

And then a light shone into the room, startling everyone.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" said a reedy voice. A tall figure entered the room, flanked by two floating orbs of light. "I thought I smelled some scurrying rodents, chewing on the wires." The lights, which turned out to be none other than her infamous Ying-Yang Orbs, pulled back, illuminating the smug, weathered face of Miko Hakurei. "And what do I find? Five little rodents, trying to raid the larder. I'd say a little pest control is in order.

Mima stiffened immediately. This was bad, this was very bad. Five little rabbits she could handle with ease. But the Hakurei shrine maiden was a different matter entirely. And it wouldn't be long before the defenses came back on line. She was trapped.

Amused, Miko scanned the terrified faces of the cowering rabbits. She folded her arms and tapped her fingers against her biceps. "Well now, girls. I suppose I have you to thank for the big blackout going on right now? And that mess in the restaurant next door? Seems to be a lot of trouble just to run off with some old relic. But I'm sure there's some sort of reasonable explanation, and I for one would love to hear it." Then three spellcards suddenly appeared between the fingers of her right hand. "Oh, would you look at that. I lied! You'll just have to explain yourselves to the Kappa. You know, after you've resurrected."

"We're not thieves!" said the rabbits' leader as Miko advanced threateningly.

"Really? Because that little treat you've stolen says otherwise."

"We're not!" the rabbit insisted. "We're just taking back what's…what's ours!" She held out the bowl. "This was stolen from us thirty-three years ago! This was our only opportunity to get it back, I swear!"

"Sure you do," Miko said, rolling her eyes. "Because youkai are just so-" She cut herself off in mid-sentence. Blinking, she leaned in closer. "Wait, I've seen that bowl."

Then her attention drifted over to Yukari's boxes, still stacked on the far table. Leaving one Ying-Yang Orb to guard the rabbits, she walked over to them and examined the insignia. A low hiss slithered out of her throat, and Mima was reasonably certain that she caught the word "Bitch" being used.

"Took that from here, did'ya?" Miko said, looking up at the rabbits.

"Yes."

"And you say it was stolen from you?"

"Y-yes."

"Ah." Miko's face hardened for a moment. Mima could almost feel the waves of hate emitting from the withered shrine maiden.

Then, relaxing just a bit, Miko walked back to the rabbits. "Well girls, you get a free pass this time. Take your bowl and get out of here. Don't touch anything else, and I didn't see you. Got it?"

The rabbits slumped with relief. One of them smelled of urine. "Thank you!" said the leader. "We won't be noticed, promise!"

"I'm sure," Miko said dryly. "Oh, before you go, was one of you responsible for planting those explosives over on the restaurant next door?"

The rabbits nervously glanced at each other. Then one of them, the one Eirin had been speaking to earlier, raised her hand. "Er, that was me."

"Ah. And you know Humans were in that building, yeah? When all that water came in? I mean, nobody drowned from what I hear, but it was a pretty close thing."

The rabbit swallowed. "Uh, we, well, we needed a distraction, and-"

Miko's fist lashed forward, slamming right into the rabbit's face. Cartilage crunched under her knuckles and the rabbit crumpled to the floor, out cold. Mima's eyebrows shot up, and Mary let out a small, "Wow." The Hakureis were a hardy bunch indeed.

"That was your only warning," Miko hissed to the rest. "Endanger Humans again, and there won't be enough atoms floating around to resurrect." She tilted her head toward the door. "Get out."

She didn't need to tell them twice. The remaining four rabbits quickly gathered up their fallen comrade and bolted from the room. Miko glowered after them.

Then, when they were long gone, she winced. "Ah, ah, ah," she groaned, shaking out her hand. "Idiot. Shouldn't be doing that." She stalked from the room, rubbing her sore wrist.

Mima and Mary remained frozen in place. It wasn't until Mima was absolutely certain that Miko was truly gone that she dared to glance down at her protégé.

"Move?" Mary whispered.

Mima nodded. "Move."

They quickly tiptoed over to Yukari's boxes and opened the long one. There, nestled in foam casing, was the Takenostsue Joukuu. It wasn't much to look at: just a plain wooden rod, adorned by ornament of any kind, though it did sport a fair number of dings and marks picked up over the years. But then, its value wasn't in its appearance.

"Hey, Morgan?" Mary whispered as Mima opened the box. "Who was that lady?"

Mima didn't look at her, but she said, "That, my dear, was one cast iron bitch."

Mary's eyes went wide. "You said a bad word!"

Mima chuckled. "Believe me, child. Coming from me, that was a compliment of the highest order."

Mima reached into the pack she wore and pulled out another staff, identical to the one she was stealing. It even carried the same flight enchantment. The only difference between the two was age. Removing the Takenostsue Joukuu, she replaced it with the duplicate and closed the box. There wasn't anything she could do to disguise the theft of the bowl, but that didn't matter. It wasn't going to be traced back to her.

"Done," she whispered to Mary. She slipped the staff into her pack. "Let's go."

And then the lights turned on and the alarms went off.

Mary let out a squeak of surprise and hid behind Mima's skirt. As for herself, the elder mage stood stiff in horror. Oh, damn it all, damn it all. They had taken too long, or maybe she had missed something. The cloaking spell would hide them for a time, but if the power was back up, the magical network couldn't be far behind. And Miko was still about.

Then she heard the sound of raised voices and incoming footfalls. Kappa. Damn it, she was going to have to fight her way out. Not impossible, but definitely not preferable. But what choice did she have?

But before she could ready her first spell, Mary sprung into action. She flung the box open and pulled out the decoy staff. "Un-invisible me," she hissed to Mima. "Now!"

Mima stared at her. Then she shrugged and did as Mary asked. If the girl wanted to play the sacrificial lamb, she wasn't going to object.

Mary took a deep breath. Then, holding onto the staff with both hands, she started wailing.

"WAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!"

Four Kappa burst into the room: two guards and the two board members that Mima had seen the other day. Seeing Mary standing with a precious artifact in her hands, the guards immediately zeroed in on her. _"There's the thief!"_ one shouted, pulling out a spellcard. _"Get her before she-"_

"_Wait, wait, wait, cease this nonsense!" _shouted the elderly male. _"This so-called burglar is but a child!"_

The guards didn't attack, but they didn't drop their guard. _"Be that as it may, it seems to me-"_

"_Hush." _The elderly Kappa walked over to Mary and stooped down low to look her in the eye. Then, speaking in accented but surprisingly correct Japanese, he said, "Hello little one. What are you doing here?"

Still sobbing, Mary wiped her eye with one tiny balled fist and said, "Th-the lights went out and I got lost. I t-t-tried to f-find my mommy, but then I heard voice! I followed them and ended up here, but I couldn't find the door. Th-then I heard another noise, and t-tried to find something to fight with, and I f-f-found this stick, but then the lights came back and the loud noises happened!"

"There, there," the Kappa male said soothingly. "It's all right. We'll help you find your family." He looked over his shoulder and said in Kappa, _"Cease that abominable noise before you upset this poor child further!"_

The alarms stopped. Mima stood perfectly still, less than a meter away from the old Kappa. A wide grin was on her face. Oh, bless the stupidity of old fools and children's ability to take advantage of it! Mary's story had so many holes in it that another child would see through it in a second. But she looked so scared and so adorable that the idiot was buying it hook, line, and sinker.

However, the other board member, the female, seemed to be a wee bit smarter. _"Sir, forgive my impudence, but though this girl be of tender year, she is not to be trusted. Even with our meticulous failsafes mysteriously disappearing, this room should have been locked."_

Annoyed, the old male snapped, _"Oh, dash it all. Does she look like a thief to you? She said she heard voices. No doubt she came in just after the real thieves were leaving." _He looked around the room. _"I shudder to think what they could have taken. We'll have to give these a real look-over. We've got a right mess on our hands, and no mistake."_

Sighing, he turned back to the teary-eyed Mary and gently took the decoy staff from her. "Thank you, child," he said, affectionately ruffling her hair. Carefully placing it back into the box, he said, _"Forsooth, we are fortunate that those rascals did not make off with this. What Yukari Yakumo would have done, I shudder to imagine." _

Then, taking Mary by the hand, he led the group from the room. "Come on now, let's go find your mommy," he cooed.

"Oh…okay," Mary said, shuffling meekly. Then, when all eyes were off her, she glanced over her shoulder and winked.

Though the girl couldn't see her, Mima nodded in return. Then, before the door was shut, she slipped from the room and fled down the hall as fast as her power would allow.

…

A great deal of time and resources had gone into making the Kappa Academy of the Arts a veritable fortress. However, the little security station across the way was not nearly so well-protected, and in the chaos ensuing from the break-in, no one noticed that the little Human girl that had been brought in to be watched over until her parents could be found had vanished and her guards rendered unconscious until several hours later. By then, it was too late to do anything about it. The girl, the spirit, and the staff rode the next submarine out, and no one was the wiser.

…

_Do note that any observations made about specific religions are those of the characters making them, and do not reflect the personal views of the author in the slightest. I've been mistaken for a misanthropic anti-theist a couple of times already, really don't want to be again. _

_Anyway, one of the reasons why I put this story on the shelf last year was because I just couldn't think of how to make the heist go down. I'm no good at those sorts of strategies, and while the current version is workable, I'm sure you guys can poke several holes in it. So, uh, if you encounter any plotholes, please just recite the MST3K mantra and move on. _

_So yeah. Until next time everyone! _


	3. The Gift

The Gift

It was early Christmas morning. Mima sat in her chair with the Takenostsue Joukuu laid across her legs, her gaze balefully fixated on Mary's Christmas tree.

It was a pretty tree, adorned with golden bulbs, silver stars, and flickering candles, the only light in the otherwise shadowed room. Mima had helped Mary decorate, though upon reflection, she wasn't really sure why. Decorating Christmas trees wasn't something she was accustomed to doing. But it had made the girl happy, and thus strengthened her trust in Mima, so she might as well chalk that one up to maintaining her façade. Though the fact that Mima had also enjoyed herself couldn't be explained so easily.

Then she glanced to Mary, who was sprawled awkwardly over the bed with her limbs spread in all directions and head nowhere near the pillow. Mima could probably count on one hand the number of times she had seen the girl actually used the blanket in the way it had been intended. Most of the time, Mary would be so exhausted from her lessons that Mima wouldn't even need to use any sort of sleeping spell. The girl would just collapse onto the bed and start snoring. Despite this, Mary's snores were punctuated with giggles, and there was a happy smile on her face. No doubt her dreams were centered around Mary the Magnificent, Master Magician.

Mima's scowl deepened. She thought back to one of her previous projects, which had involved posing as a runaway slave so as to seduce the high priest of a certain religious order with very dim views on Human ownership. That tryst had lasted for months, during which the poor fool had fallen head-over-heels in love with her. She had been his closest confidante, there had been talk of children, la de dah. And when she had finally pried the location of their holy symbol from his lips and delivered both it and the heads of everyone in the temple to the roaming raiders that had employed her, the look on the priest's face had been so delicious that she still treasured the image to the present day. And that whole relationship had been three times as long as her time with Mary, and had been a great deal more intimate. So why was she having second thoughts about this one when that one had not given her pause? It didn't make any sense.

Mima looked down at the staff lying on her knees. She picked it up and rolled it back and forth over her palm. The hell it didn't make any sense. She was incomplete; that's all there was to it. The loss of power was affecting her judging and compromising her emotional control. It had happened before and she had pulled through. She just needed to see this to the end, and everything would be all right again.

Mary stirred with a snort. She mumbled something incomprehensible, rolled over onto her side, and slowly sat up. Yawning widely, she rubbed the grit from her eyes and blinked sleepily at her surroundings. Then her eyes fell upon the tree and all traces of sleep vanished.

"Oh yeah!" she cried as she leapt from the bed. "Merry Christmas, Morgan!"

"And to you too, child," Mima said, smiling. She stood up and waved her hand, causing all the lights in the house to flare to life. "Would you like breakfast first or-Oof!" The rest of that thought was cut off when Mary suddenly lunged forward and wrapped her arms around Mima's waist.

"This is," Mary said, her cheek pressed to Mima's lap, "gonna be the first Christmas I've had that doesn't suck, ze!"

Despite the morbid irony of that statement, Mima didn't feel like smirking. And that bothered her. "That's some faint praise," she said, giving Mary's mussed hair an affectionate tussle. "But I'll take it. Now, about that-"

"Wait, wait, wait!" Releasing her hold on her mentor, Mary scampered back to the bed. Getting down on her belly, she crawled beneath the bedframe, so that only her calves were sticking out.

Bemused, Mima watched as Mary scrounged around for something. "You know," she said. "That's not exactly wise. There are many nasty creatures that like to lurk in the shadows of a magician's house. Beneath the bed is especially popular."

"Eh, you wouldn't let 'em if they tried," Mary responded, her voice muffled. "And even if you did, I'd just sock 'em in the nose." She skittered backward back into the light, bringing a package messily wrapped with brown paper with her. Grinning, she ran over and thrust it into Mima's hands.

Mima's brow rose. "Oh my, is this for me?"

"Yup! Open it!"

"Well, that was kind of you." Mima carefully undid the wrappings, expecting to see a bouquet of wildflowers, probably crawling with earwigs. "I wasn't expecting to-Oh."

Inside was a hat, tall and pointed without a brim, the sort often favored by master magicians. It was made from wool felt dyed a rich purple, the same color as Mima's robe in her role as Morgan le Fae. A white lace bow flared around the edge like a pair of wings, and a golden sun was stitched to the body.

"Did you make this?" she asked.

"Yup! Try it on!"

Not sure what to expect, Mima gingerly placed it on her head. Then she walked over to a full-length mirror and looked at herself.

Her brows went up. Well, it actually didn't look bad. In fact, it rather suited her. Despite her tender years, the girl was as clever a seamstress as she was a student of magical theory, no doubt helped by her talent for picking out delicate patterns and her precise hand when it came to rune inscription.

"Well?" Mary demanded, impatiently hopping from one foot to the next.

Mima took a deep breath. "I…like it," she said honestly. She took off the hat and examined it. "You did good work. Thank you."

Mary beamed. Then she looked over to the tree and her face fell, no doubt noticing the lack of presents underneath.

That was as good a lead-in as any. "Get dressed," Mima told her. "We're going out."

"Going out?" Looking confused, Mary did as she was instructed. "Okay, but where?"

Mima picked up the Takenostsue Joukuu. "Where do you think? To get your present."

"My present? You mean-" Mary looked at the staff and her eyes widened. "Oh wow, you mean that magic thingy you're gonna trade that for is…"

Mima opened the door and smiled. "Ready to go?"

"Yes!" Grinning widely, Mary followed Mima out into the snow, completely ignorant to the fact that she was walking to her death.

…

Roccio's fat lips spread wide as Mima entered her hut, Mary trailing close behind. "Well, well, well," she croaked. "Lookie who we have here. Merry Christmas, bitches."

The Imp had dressed for the holidays. Which was to say she now wore a natty and stained robe that might once have been scarlet. On her head was the withered carcass of a Santa Claus cap, its ball of puff barely hanging on by a few scant threads. Mima, who had met the saintly elf on two different occasions and did not like him at all, couldn't decide if the Imp's appearance was an improvement over the genuine article or a declination of Roccio's usual outfit.

"Merry Christmas, Roccio," Mima said with a cordial nod of her head. "I see you have appropriately garbed yourself."

"Yeah, figured I might as well get into the spirit of things." The Imp threw her head back and cackled, sending saliva spraying everywhere. "Get it? _Spirit _of things?"

"Yes, very droll."

"And speaking of which, did you do something with your hair?" Roccio's eyes dipped down. "And look at that, Santa brought you a pair of legs for Christmas! You musta been a good little ghost."

Behind her, Mary stared at her dismal surroundings with a look of bewildered revulsion. Whatever she had been expecting, this was most certainly not it. "Morgan, this place is nasty," she whispered, tugging at Mima's sleeve. "Why are we here?"

"And who is this juicy little morsel?" Roccio leaned to the side to peer at the shrinking girl.

"This is Mary Kirisame," Mima told her. "She's the girl we discussed earlier."

"Yeah, I figured that part out." Roccio beckoned to Mary with one warty finger. "Come on, kiddo. Don't be shy. Say hello to Auntie Roccio."

Mary made a face. She might have made a disparaging comment, but Mima nudged her forward. "Go on," she said. "Don't be rude."

Looking at Mima in confusion, Mary nervously stepped forward. "Uh, hi?" she said to the Imp. "Who are you, ze?"

"Who are youzey?" The Imp snickered, making a snot bubble fill her left nostril before popping. "Can't say I've heard of 'em."

Mary looked up to Mima, silently begging her to explain why they were in such a disgusting place.

"This anthropomorphic pimple is called Roccio," Mima told her. "As her outfit implies, she'll be the one giving you your Christmas present. And me, mine."

"Ho, ho, ho," Roccio rumbled.

"What," Mary deadpanned, staring.

"Indeed," Mima said. "And speaking of which…"

She tossed the Takenostsue Joukuu over to Roccio, who caught it in one hand.

"There," Mima said. "The Takenostsue Joukuu. As we agreed."

"Heh." Roccio ran her hand over the staff's length, leaving a trail of sweat and grime. Mima internally winced at the befoulment of such a priceless artifact, but now was not the time to split hairs. "Haf'ta say, didn't really expect you to pull it off."

"Well, I did," Mima said, her lip lifting in a snarl. "Now it's time for your part."

Chuckling, Roccio slid off her stool and waddled over to where the Receptacle was housed. She bit into her thumb, drawing a muddy red drop of blood. Mary started gagging.

Roccio pressed her thumb to the top of the altar, leaving a bloody smear. Immediately the red quartz of the Receptacle's body flared bright scarlet, filling the filthy hovel with ominous light, cast into perverse shapes by the black ebony covering the altar.

Mary shrank back. She was seeing dark magic for the first time, and it was clear that she didn't much care for it. "Morgan? What's going on?" she whimpered. "This is scary. I don't like it."

Mima remained silent, but Roccio had heard her. "Morgan, eh?" she said, turning to leer at the scared girl. "Is that what she said her name was?" She laughing, a horrid, croaking sound. "Girlie, are you in for a surprise!"

"Morgan?" Mary said pleadingly, tugging again on Mima's sleeve.

Mima looked at her then, her eyes hard and cold. Shocked, Mary took a step back.

"No," she said, finally realizing the predicament she was in. "You can't…Morgan, you're not really going to…"

Mima looked away.

"Morgan? It's not true, is it? Morgan?"

Ignoring her, Mima said to the Imp, "Take her. She's yours."

Here she would normally include an additional remark to the victim: a taunt, a sneer, a mocking laugh. But as bizarre at it sounded, her heart just wasn't in it. Try as she might, she could find no joy in this betrayal, only regret at the waste.

_Steady, _she told herself. _That's just your loss of emotional control talking. You'll feel better once you've been restored._

The Imp, however, was enjoying herself very much. "C'mon, girlie," she sneered as she lurched over to Mary, sausage-like fingers grasping.

Mary let a terrified squeak and, finally realizing that Mima would provide no protection, turned and ran for the door. She got within less than a meter of it before it slammed shut in her face.

"Nice try!" Roccio crowed. "You ain't getting away that easily, kiddo!"

But Mary wasn't done. As Roccio continued to wobble her way towards her, Mary reached into her pocket and pulled out a small piece of chalk. Finding the flattest piece of ground that she could, she hurriedly crouched down and stabbed at floor with a few short, precise slashes, inscribing a quick rune around herself.

Right before Roccio reached her, the rune flared up and fire shot up around Mary, not harming her but scorching everything else. Roccio squealed like a stuck pig and fell back, her fingers blackened and smoking.

"You little bitch!" Roccio howled. "I'll pull your guts out for-" Then her eyes widened when she saw that Mary's circle of fire had reached the top of her hovel. Hungry tongues of flame spread over the ceiling as smoke filled the air.

Left to her own devices, Mary might have won. The shack would have burned down, taking Roccio with it, allowing her to escape once the coast was clear. But she did not stand against Roccio alone. Mima held out her hand and clenched it into a fist. She spoke a word of command, loud and clear even over the roar of the fire.

White steam shot up around Mary's rune, swallowing up the fire and snuffing it out. The rune itself cracked and blew away. The smoke cleared, revealing Mary still crouched with her knees up to her face and hands covering her head. She looked with wet eyes first to her broken rune, and then to the person who had destroyed it, the person she had come to love, respect, and trust over the last few weeks.

That, more than anything else, was what broke her. She slumped down, all the fight leaving her body. She didn't even have the strength to cry.

Mima stared at the defeated child and found the spectacle disturbing. When they had infiltrated the Kappa Village together, Mary had been absolutely fearless. She had scrambled into a tight, dimly lit shaft filled with dangerous traps without hesitation and emerged with a smile on her face. She had watched the encounter between Miko Hakurei and the Eientei rabbits from less than three meters away and kept her nerve. And when everything had gone to hell and they had been seconds away from getting caught, she had concocted a masterful ruse on the spot and leapt fully into her role, getting caught redhanded and still managing to fool the Kappa. And even beyond that, she had spent the last few weeks living with a powerful; witch in a dark cabin in a notoriously dangerous forest working (or so she thought) with deadly magics and loved every minute of it. As such, seeing her spirit broken like this turned Mima's stomach, no mean feat for a being of pure spirit.

Hissing, Roccio lurched up. "You're gonna pay for that, you little whore," she snarled. She seized Mary by the hair and hoisted her up, making the girl cry out in pain. "Oh yeah, I'm gonna make you hurt-"

"No," Mima snapped.

"What?" Roccio's froglike eyes goggled at Mima, unable to comprehend why Madam Mima would stand in the way of rage-fueled sadism.

"You have the girl," Mima said. "She's beaten. It's done. No playing around. Just do it and get it over with."

Roccio hissed and spat. "Fuck you, you stupid ghost. If you think you can tell me what do in my house, you got-"

Mima took a step forward, her shadow growing behind her and her face framed by the crimson light emitting from the Receptacle. "I'll say this once," she said down to the fat youkai. "Do your job _now, _or I shall become angry."

Roccio glowered back up at her, trying to make a show of defiance, but her nerve broke. "Fine," she said, her voice satisfyingly shaky. "Have it your way." With that, she hoisted Mary over her shoulder and stomped over to the Receptacle. Mary never so much as struggled. She just hung as limp as the carcass she was about to become.

As Roccio approached the hungry altar, Mima found herself unwilling to watch. And why should she? The shrine was about to be destroyed anyway. She might as well leave now.

So as Roccio started chanting in a low tone, the girl still slung over her shoulder, Mima turned and walked away, the door opening for her.

…

Once outside, Mima looked up at the grey sky overhead. She breathed in deep, the cold air filling her artificially created lungs. Mortals often found the winter air to be refreshing and used it as a way to clear their thoughts. Unfortunately, Mima experienced no such moment of clarity.

Behind her, Roccio was finishing the ritual. When her chanting came to an end, the top of the Receptacle would open up, and the sacrifice would be thrown in. Everything would then be consumed: first the body, and then the soul. The whole process took about a minute, though to the unlikely child it would feel much, much longer. Being torn apart by demonic forces on both a physical and spiritual level was nothing short of agonizing. But either way, so long as its cruel requirements were met, it would feed the Receptacle the energy it needed to do its dark work. The Hakurei Shrine would be destroyed within the hour. Merry Christmas, Miko Hakurei. Merry Christmas, Reimu Hakurei. Merry Christmas, Mary Kirisame. Ho, ho, ho.

_Bear it out, _Mima told herself. _This is your moment of triumph. Your power will be restored in full, and Miko will be left vulnerable. You will be able to exact vengeance so horrifying that the storybooks won't even need to embellish. Madam Mima is about to return, greater and more terrible than ever. _

Then Mima looked down at her hands, pale white in the morning light. _And she will do so alone. _She frowned. _So? I've always been alone. Even the Serpentine Marauders were simply a means to an end. There's never been anyone worth my time that hasn't been an enemy._

Except one.

Mima took off the hat Mary had made for her and turned it over in her hands. Even in the dim light, the golden sun still sparkled. How Mary had known of Mima's preference for astronomical symbols, Mima couldn't guess. She had hidden all trace of her true identity. Maybe it was Mary's intuitive nature when it came to magical matters at play, allowing her to unconsciously divine such things.

Such a talent. Such a sublime talent, coupled with an ingenious mind. With only a little training, she had been able to surprise Mima herself. What could she have become, if trained fully? Perhaps she would be able to surpass Mima herself one day, something that should be definite grounds for her destruction before she became actual competition. And yet…

Mima sighed. She put the hat back on and allowed herself a rueful smile and a bitter chuckle. Oh, what the hell. There was more than one way to destroy a shrine.

…

The ritual was nearly complete. The Receptacle lay open, its open maw spewing forth burning light like a gateway to Hell. And, in a sense, that's what it was: a tiny, portable Hell.

"_Dig trup, ha frum," _Roccio gurgled, speaking words from a tongue long forgotten. She held the limp child high over her head. _"Rifa votar ob Hakurei!"_

With that, she threw the little brat into the Receptacle's yawning mouth.

The kid's body stopped right over the Receptacle's body and hovered in place.

Roccio blinked. Wait, this had never happened before. Had something gone wrong? Was the betrayal not enough, and now the Receptacle was rejecting the sacrifice. No, it didn't work that way.

And then, though she was still lying as limp as before, the girl floated up and away, sailing over Roccio's head and moving toward the door.

"Huh?" Roccio gurgled as she watched, dumbstruck. "What?"

"Hey," said a voice. "Imp. Merry Christmas, you filthy animal."

Roccio had just enough time to recognize the voice's owner before a green lightning bolt hit her in the chest. Pain filled her world as her muscles seized up and started convulsing. Her mouth was flung open, but no scream came out.

But as bad as that was, it was nothing compared to the realization that the impact had knocked her over the Receptacle's side, and she was now pitching into the fiery chasm intended for Mary Kirisame. She tried to stop herself, but her body was no longer hers to command.

As she helplessly tumbled into the storm of voracious energies, she had just enough time to her Mima scornfully add, "And happy New Year."

…

Mima watched dispassionately as the Imp's body was swallowed up by the Receptacle. How all of that blubber managed to fit inside, she wasn't even going to try to guess. However, even though she had just sabotaged her own carefully laid-out plan and prevented herself from regaining her lost power, there was no denying the cold satisfaction that came from the sounds of wet tissue being torn asunder and echoing howls that were now coming from the Receptacle. It couldn't have happened to a more loathsome creature.

At her side, Mary lay in a lifeless heap, too overwhelmed to notice that she had been rescued. It would probably be a while before her senses returned. Mima could of course have sped up the process, but in this she was content to wait, as the following conversation was something she needed time to prepare for.

Finally the sounds of torment died away, and the angry glow cooled. The top of the altar closed, this time for good. Without Roccio to make it work, the Receptacle was now useless, and would never be used again. Perhaps it was for the best. Such impractical designs ought to be discouraged.

Mima wondered if she had just made a colossal mistake. After all, even though Mary had been saved, how could ever trust Mima again? Well, maybe Mima could modify her memories, change a little here, muddle a little there, and make it so that, as far as Mary was concerned, this whole unfortunate incident had never happened. Yes, that could work…

Musing on that, Mima knelt down and picked Mary up. As she turned to leave, a low, rumbling voice emitted from the Receptacle.

"THIS SACRIFICE," it said, "IS INSUFFICIENT." A pause. "AND DISGUSTING."

"On that we agree," Mima snapped. She was again about to leave, but then paused.

"Oh, why not?" she groused. Moving the girl into the crux of one arm, she held out her hand. The Takenostsue Joukuu shot across the room and smacked into her palm. Then, after a moment of hesitation, she beckoned to the Receptacle. It lifted off the ground and dutifully followed her out of the hovel and into the open air.

Waste not…

…

In time, Mary began to stir. Her dazed eyes slowly came into focus, and, with a small moan, she sat up.

Mima sat nearby, watching her. She had brought her back to her cottage and laid her on the bed. The Takenostsue Joukuu lay against the wall, while the Receptacle was now stashed in one of her many hidden vaults. While she still found the dark altar to be professionally offensive, and while without Roccio it was now nothing more than an inert piece of rock, there still might be something she could learn from it. But that was a project for another day. For now, Mima's main concern was with the girl.

"So, you're awake," Mima said. "How do you feel?"

Mary blinked at her. She squinted, no doubt piecing together hazy memories.

Then her eyes shot wide open and she scooted back with a gasp. She pressed her back to the wall with her hands splayed to either side, all the while panting, "You…you…"

Again acting against her better judgment, Mima had left Mary's mind unaltered. If she was going to save someone so as to allow them to fulfill their potential, then she wasn't about to risk spoiling it by forcing their minds into unnatural shapes, especially so early. "Yes," Mima said. "You remember correctly."

Mary swallowed. "You tried to kill me," she whispered, her voice a dry croak.

"Indeed I did," Mima said, inclining her head. "But I changed my mind."

Mary stared. "Why?"

"Why what?" Mima asked. "Why did I try to kill you, or why did I save you?"

The girl's tiny pink tongue flicked out to lick her lips. "Both."

"Ah. Well, that takes a bit of explaining." Mima leaned back, crossing her legs. "But first, would you like some water? You sound parched."

A few seconds ticked by, and then Mary slowed nodded. Mima stood up and walked over to the table, Mary's eyes tracking her every move. Filling a cup from a pitcher, Mima went over to the bed and handed it to the girl.

"Drink," she said. "Don't worry, it's clean. If I wanted to pour something strange down your throat, I would hardly need your cooperation."

Even so, Mary stared hard at the cup in her hands for a long moment, as if expecting something to rise out the water and attack. But finally her thirst ran out and she slowly drank, though she never took her eyes off of Mima.

Nodding, Mima returned to her chair. "Well, you wanted an explanation, and I intend to give you one." She sighed. "Unfortunately, it's hard to choose where to begin. However, I believe that it goes without saying that I have not been fully honest with you for much of your stay here. In fact, a great deal of what I have told you was a lie."

Mary swallowed and put the cup down.

"I never intended to teach you magic, at least not at first. That was just to make you trust me. The Receptacle requires a betrayal to work, you see. And unless you had felt deeply betrayed by someone you trusted, it wouldn't have worked."

"The…Receptacle?"

Mima nodded. "Yes. That glowing altar you were almost thrown into. It's an item of dark magic, one that requires the life of a Human child to work."

Mary's face, already pale as it was, now turned wax-white. "You were gonna sacrifice me?" she whispered.

"Yes."

"Whuh…why?"

"Because I had great need," Mima answered. She sat back down. "Tell me: are you familiar with the Hakurei Shrine?"

Mary frowned. "No."

That was no surprise. The Hakureis always had an uneasy relationship with the Human Village. "The Hakrurei Shrine sits on the very edge of Gensokyo," Mima explained. She held up a hand, calling forth a miniature image of the shrine. "It acts as the gateway between our country and the Outside World. You know of the separation at least, yes?"

Mary nodded. "Yeah…"

A tiny figure in red and white appeared next to the shrine. "The Hakurei Shrine is guarded by the Hakurei shrine maiden. One of her jobs is to protect people." Mima nodded meaningfully to Mary. "Especially Humans."

"Protect people?" Mary asked. She frowned. "You mean, like from…youkai and stuff?"

"Yes. From youkai, and anyone else that would want to cause trouble. And she is very good at her job." Mima lowered her hand, banishing the image. "Do you remember that woman we saw, back at the Kappa Village? The one that knocked that rabbit out?"

Mary frowned for a bit, and then nodded. "Uh, yeah. The cast iron…" Her face turned red. "Er…"

Mima smiled then. Told to assist in a high-profile theft of a priceless artifact, and the girl enthusiastically joined in. But when it came to saying a bad word she suddenly felt squeamish. "Yes. Well, that was her."

"But she looked so…old."

"Do not underestimate her," Mima said sharply. "She has power you could only dream of. That's why the Kappa hired her. If she had seen us, it is highly unlikely either of us would have been able to escape."

Mary gulped.

"At any rate, the Hakurei family and I have been enemies for a long, long time," Mima continued. "Sometimes I've won, and sometimes they've won. About twelve years ago, I fought Miko Hakurei. And lost." She scowled. "Hard."

Mary stared at her in disbelief. "But…but you're so strong."

"Indeed I am," Mima said, nodding. "But so is she, that's my point. And in winning, she was able to take a large part of my essence and seal it away at her shrine."

Mary gaped. "Wait, she stole your magic?"

"Among other things, yes."

"Wow." Mary stared at her for a moment longer before asking, "How powerful are…er, were you?"

"More," Mima said simply.

"Oh."

A long silence followed, during which Mima allowed for that bit of information to sink in. Mary privately mused to herself, trying to wrap her head around the idea of an ever more powerful Morgan le Fae. No doubt she was picturing her mentor as some sort of deific being.

But in time, Mary's mind wandered back to the primary subject at hand. She blinked, frowned, and looked back to Mima. "So, wait. Why'd you wanna kill me again?"

"Because in doing so, my power would have been restored," Mima told her. She gave her a quick summary on what the Receptacle did, how it worked, and Mima's plan to use it to destroy Hakurei Shrine. "That, I'm afraid, is why I rescued you from that youkai. I needed a child, and there you were."

Mary's face had gone blank. "I was about to be sacrificed," she said for the second time. Perhaps it was only now sinking in.

Mima nodded. "Another half-second, and you would have died in agony."

"But…" Mary shook her head in bewilderment. "But you saved me, ze."

"Yes."

"Why?"

Mima sighed. "To explain that, I must confess to another lie. You recall when I tested you for magical potential?"

"Yeah," Mary nodded. "You said I had a lot of-"

She stopped talking. The girl really was sharp. Even as overwhelmed as she must be feeling, she had still made an intuitive leap to Mima's implied meaning, as much as she must hate it. She stared at Mima, mutely pleading with her to deny what she feared.

She was to be disappointed. "Yes, I'm afraid so," Mima said.

Mary had started to shake a little. She looked down to her hands, and the quartz bracelet around her wrist. "So I don't…"

"None whatsoever." Mima waved a hand, and Mary's bracelet fell apart in two pieces. Blinking, she slowly extended a hand and pointed it at the water pitcher. Nothing happened, so she tried again. And again.

Finally, Mary lowered her hand. "None?" she whispered, her voice choking up.

"None," Mima confirmed. "Even less than a normal person. Most at least can fly."

The tremble was becoming more visible. "But…but I did magic! When you were training me, and…" Realization flashed in her eyes. No doubt she was remembering the trick Mima had played on the Chochinobake, allowing her to put together the pieces. "Oh."

"Yes. Exactly."

Mary swallowed. "So…I'm never going to be a magician."

This seemed to hurt her more than Mima's betrayal and her near brush with death. She doubled over, one hand held to her mouth while clutched tightly to her stomach. Her body convulsed, almost as if she were vomiting, though nothing came out but pitiful, ragged sobs.

Mima allowed this to continue for a time until Mary had gotten enough of it out of her system. "I never said that," she said.

Mary's head snapped up, her eyes lighting up with desperate hope.

"It's true, at first it was all a sham," Mima said. "I was simply leading you on for the sake of the sacrifice. But then you surprised me."

Mary lowered her hand. "How?" she said, her voice a hoarse whisper.

In answer, Mima summoned up a floating representation of Mary's rune, the one she had invented to create water bubbles. "With this. You should not have been able to make it."

"Huh?" Mary blinked in confusion. "Why not?"

"Because rune-work is too complicated, especially for a child. Even if you memorized all the elements, which by the way normally takes several days instead of the few hours you managed it in, putting them together just right is incredibly difficult for the untrained."

Mary still looked lost. "But it isn't. You just gotta choose the right ones and-"

"It is, or at least it should be." She closed her hand, banishing the rune. "That's my point. Even if you figured out which elements you needed, there are still things like size, placement, angles, orientation, and number to think of. Usually it takes days to get a new rune to work correctly, in which there is a great deal of trial and error involved. You just looked at the list, figured out which elements you needed at a glance, and got everything right on your first try." Mima shook her head. "Mary, I have told you before that I do not hand out compliments lightly, so when I tell you that such a thing is nothing short of amazing, I hope you'll grasp my full meaning."

"Uh…kinda?"

It was time to get to the point. "Mary, you are a magical genius." As Mary's eyes widened, Mima pressed on. "Untrained, unlearned, and mostly untested, but a genius nevertheless. Perhaps you cannot use magic, but your instinctive understanding of it is astonishing. You are able to grasp things at a glance that even fully trained magicians struggle with. And with proper schooling, you have it within you to be-"

"Er, really good?" Mary guessed.

"A legend. "

Mary gaped at her, her mouth silently opening and closing in froglike manner. Then her wits returned, along with her disappointment. "So, I can't use magic, but I can…study it? That…kinda sucks."

"It's more than that," Mima said, her voice a bit harsher than she had intended. "Control comes from understanding." Mary's face lit up, and Mima nodded. "Yes, it is my belief that you can one day learn to use magic for real. It will take a lot of work, more than most will have to put in, but you can become a full magician. And more."

Mary continued to stare. There was something not unlike an astonished smile starting to form on her lips.

"That's why I saved you. I couldn't let talent like yours go to waste." Mima leaned forward. I want to teach you, Mary. This time for real."

"You…you do?"

"Yes. There are many who have asked for me to be their teacher. Every student I have taken under my wings had to first prove their worth and pay a heavy price, one that almost ruined them. Most failed, many died in the process, but the ones that endured…became legends. You've read about several."

"Oh," was all Mary could say.

"But they all came to me, asking for my help. I didn't seek out students, I didn't want students. You are…the first person I have ever _wanted _to train. Because I want to see what you will become."

"A legend?"

"Yes," Mima said gravely. "Probably more."

Then Mary frowned. She hesitated, and then ventured, "…who are you?"

Mima smiled. "Smart girl. I suppose it goes without saying that the name Morgan le Fae is as much as lie as anything else I told you that first day. But are you certain you wish to know my true name? Because though you will recognize it, I cannot guarantee you will like it."

Mary's frown deepened, almost becoming an angry scowl. "Tell me. You owe me that much."

"I owe you nothing beyond what I choose to give," Mima calmly replied. "But if honesty is what you desire…"

With deliberate slowness, she rose from her chair. And then, spreading her hands to either side, she changed. Her legs became transparent and melted together. Her hair shortened a bit, grew thicker, and darkened from silver to green. The angles on her face sharpened, and her eyes flashed sapphire. And finally, her royal purple robe changed color, turning to the same brilliant blue of her eyes. This extended even up to the hat Mary had given her. It was part of her wardrobe now, so it might as well match.

As Mima made her change, Mary watched in fascination. But this soon turned to horror. "You…you're…" she whispered, her face pale."

"You know my name," Mima told her. "Say it."

Mary swallowed. "You're Madam Mima."

"The one and the same," Mima bowed at the waist.

Mary whimpered. "I thought…"

"Yes?"

"I thought you were dead."

Mima had to laugh at that. "According to numerous definitions, I am. But it is true, even without that embarrassing encounter with Miko Hakurei, I have not been active for some time. It happens."

There was a short pause, and then Mary blurted out, "You're evil!"

Mima didn't so much as flinch. "Why, yes I am."

"Like, big time evil!" Mary's voice was steadily growing higher and higher, and her words were coming out in fast little squeaks. "You're like, the biggest evil witch of all time, ze!"

"Not untrue, though I personally prefer 'sorceress.' It has a greater air of prestige."

Mary started to shake again. She slumped back against the wall. "I've been living with Madam Mima this whole time?"

"Indeed," Mima said with a nod. "And here's something to consider. You've _impressed _Madam Mima."

Mary had nothing to say to that, though Mima doubted that she would have been capable of vocalizing it even if she had.

Mima chuckled. "Mary, if you are afraid that simply by spending time with me you have become irreversibly tainted, then you fail to understand exactly what evil is. 'Evil' is not some kind of contagious disease that is spread by mere contact. It is not a noun, not some kind of tangible force. It is an adjective, one that is gained through a variety of different methods, many of them constantly contested, depending on one's viewpoint. 'Cruelty' at least is a quality that most people would agree is evil, but 'Ruthlessness,' which is seeing that bright, clear line that lies between one's self and goal and being willing and able to do anything and everything to cross it often gets thrown in there as well."

Mary swallowed. "Like…sacrificing me to get your powers back."

"Precisely." Mima shrugged. "Evil is not something I am infected with and spread around, evil is something I'm called because when I set my mind to something, I let _nothing _stand in the way of achieving it. And being a magician means setting your mind to a great many things."

Again, there was no response, so Mima pressed on.

"How do you think I got so powerful?" she demanded. "Because I saw the power I wanted, figured out how to obtain it, and did it, no matter what it was. Over and over again. That's why everyone was so afraid me, because there wasn't anything I wouldn't do to achieve my goals. And so, I am evil. I am fine with that. It suits me."

Mary hesitated, and then asked, "So…if you were to teach me…"

"Then you would learn magic, more than you ever dreamed of," Mima whispered. She held out her hands. Around her, the room darkened, and the air filled with swirling stars, glowing runes, and glowing rainbows. Despite her fear, Mary was transfixed. "You have read my books, you have heard the stories, so you know my works. That knowledge will be at your disposal." Mima suddenly lowered her arms, instantly returning things to normal. Taken by surprise, Mary jumped a bit. She looked around, as if expecting more shooting stars to come at her from the corners. When none presented themselves, she turned her attention back to Mima. "

But I won't make you go against your conscience," Mima said softly. "I could, if I wanted to. If I were so inclined, I could seize control of your mind and rewrite your every motivation. But I won't. Oh, certainly, I'll suggest certain paths that you might find questionable, ones will great rewards and terrible prices, but it will be up to you to take them. So, just throwing that out there."

Mary set her mouth in a straight line. "You want do that. For me."

"No, not just for you," Mima said, shaking her head. "For me as well. Understand that, for all those stories you might have heard, I am as much in love with magic as you are. More so, in my own way. And I _really _want to see what a mind like yours can come up with. Forcing it into a certain shape would act contrary to that. I'd rather see what would happen if you were to choose your own path. With my knowledge and guidance at your disposal, of course."

"But…your power…"

Mima shrugged. "There's more than one way to get it back; I just saw the Receptacle as the most practical method within my means at the time. Ironic, given that in most circumstances 'practical' is not a word anyone with an ounce of sense would use to describe that atrocity."

"Are you…going to try again?" Mary asked her question slowly, as if she were afraid of the answer.

"What, sacrifice some other kid to that thing?"

Mary nodded.

Mima shook her head. "No. Even if I wanted to, I couldn't. The Receptacle was bound to Roccio, and with her gone, it just doesn't plain work anymore." She shrugged. "Impulsive of me, I know, but my current condition has made me a bit more…reckless than I normally would be."

Another silence passed between them. Mima hovered in place, allowing the girl to digest all she had been told. It wasn't a decision to be made lightly, after all. Despite her having rebelled against her parents and cheerfully participated in the theft of the Takenostsue Joukuu, she was still a good kid at heart, and the thought of becoming the apprentice of someone like Mima had to be terrifying.

But she was also obsessed. She wanted to use magic more than anything else in the world. It was her dream, and those few weeks of studying, as much of a farce as they may have been, had only whetted her appetite. Mima was offering to feed it. Mary was no doubt being torn in two different directions.

Finally Mima broke the silence. "So, now you know the truth, and you have heard my offer. Before you stands…well, floats the most notorious villain Gensokyo has ever known. A bad guy, as you say, through and through. And I lied to you and tried to kill you not too long ago. I am also a magical genius without peer, and I guarantee you will not find a teacher that even begins to compare. What say you, Mary?" She extended her hand to the girl. "Do you want to become one of the greatest magicians the world has ever known? Or do you want to hide your light under a bushel and let it wither away?

Mary stared at the offered hand for a good long while. Nervously biting her lower lip, she scooted away from the wall and slipped off the bed. Then, after some more hesitation, she slowly extended her own hand.

Then something in her broke and she bolted for the door. Mima watched as the girl fled outside and ran for all she was worth.

Once she was out of sight, Mima sighed and shrugged. "Eh. She'll be back," she muttered, and then closed the door.

…

_One week later…_

There came a sharp rap at the door. Without bothering to look up from what she was doing, Mima said, "It's open."

The door creaked on its hinges, and Mary tentatively entered. The last few days had not been kind to her. Her dress was ripped, her arms bruised, heavy bags nestled under her eyes, she was covered with dirt, and there was a kind of gaunt, hungry look about her. She couldn't seem to be able to stop shivering.

Mima finished stirring the bubbling pot, tapped the ladle against the side to dislodge a few stray pieces of vegetable, and set it on a hand towel. "You're not looking too good, Mary. You really need to learn to take better care of yourself."

Lifting a trembling fingers and pointing vaguely northward, Mary licked her cracked lips and croaked, "I-I've been staying-"

"In a small cave nestled under a hill, approximately a kilometer-and-a-half from the forest."

Mary gave a start. "You've been spying on me?"

Sighing, Mima turned to face her. "Child, in saving you, I sabotaged a carefully laid out plan that would have returned me to my full majesty mere milliseconds before it came to fruition. I am hardly going to let that all go to waste by having you be eaten by a hungry youkai or die of exposure. Honestly, Gensokyian winters are vicious enough as it is, and this one has been especially cruel. What were you thinking?"

"Uh," Mary blinked. "I, uh, set up a bunch of runes though. For like protection and fire and to help me find food…"

"Yes, and they were very clever. But that doesn't change the fact that you were a little girl hiding out in a cave in the Wilds in the middle of winter. Without my invisible protection, you would be dead right now." Folding her arms over her breast, Mima looked the bedraggled girl over. "Well, I assume that since you're here, you have come to a decision?"

Mary nodded. "Yeah, but uh…" She looked longingly toward the pot Mima had been stirring. Inside was a beef stew with vegetables.

"Of course," Mima said. "I made it for you, after all."

After Mary had eaten (though "inhaled" would possibly be more accurate), she still wasn't ready to talk, at least not before she had taken a long, hot bath, during which Mima restored her clothes to presentable condition. Finally, having filled her empty belly and washed the dirt and cold away, Mary had recovered from her harsh excursion enough to give Mima her answer.

"Well, see, I've been doing a lot of thinking, ze," Mary said. She sat in a chair with her face downcast and her legs rubbing anxiously against each other.

"Of course," Mima said. "You had little else to do when you weren't trying to survive."

"Yeah. And…" Mary took a deep breath. "Look. I can't go home. Not to Papa, not to the village. Not after everything that's happened. And…" She nervously scratched behind her ear. "I really, really want to learn magic. For real this time. After everything you've shown me, I can't do anything else."

"I understand," Mima said nodding. "So, is that your answer then?"

Mary bit her lower lip. "But see, you tried to kill me. You lied to me and tried to kill me."

Mima said nothing.

"I can't…I can't just pretend that that didn't happen. And I can't forget who you are."

"I see," Mima said gravely.

"But I also don't know any other magicians to teach me, and they'll probably just laugh at me and turn me into a bug, ze. So…"

Mima raised an eyebrow. "If you have a definitive solution, I'd love to hear it."

"Okay," Mary said. She took another deep breath. "Well, it's like this, ze. There's this story Papa told me a couple times. Where there's this rich guy that goes on vacation or something, and he leaves a bunch of money with his three servants. And when he gets back-"

"He finds that the first two servants had used and invested his money wisely, thereby increasing his profits by a significant figure," Mima finished for her. "They were then suitably rewarded. The third servant, however, feared his master, and did not want to risk losing the money. So he hid it and gave it back once his master had returned. But rather than being grateful for its return, the master was furious that the servant had done nothing, and cast him out."

Mary started. "You know that story?"

"Of course. And despite what you might be thinking, I fully agree with it. To whom much is given, much is required. Those who are born with the potential to be great ought to do everything in their power to become great, even if they owe it only to themselves."

"Yeah, okay," Mary said, nodding. "And it's kinda like that, ze. If I really am as smart as you say, if I can do that much for magic, I wanna do it. And I might need your help. But I don't know if I can trust you."

"A wise deduction. What do you propose."

"I want…I want you to swear that you won't lie to me like that again, that you won't try to kill me or hurt me again. And when you teach me, you won't make me do anything really bad." She looked Mima in the eye. "Swear it by your power and by your name."

Mima stared at her, her face grave. "Child, do you have any idea the sort of thing you are asking me to do, what it means to a magician to swear by their name and power?"

"Yeah," Mary nodded. "I know. Those're my terms. Take 'em or leave 'em, ze."

The girl was smart. Swearing by one's power bound a magic-user to their oath. Breaking such a promise twisted their magic into knots, and they did it too man times, they risked crippling themselves. And swearing by one's name put their very identity at stake. What was more, Mima was a being of pure spirit. In a sense, she was made out of magic. Such a promise would bind her more closely than it would a mortal.

"No," Mima said. "I will not do that."

Mary jerked back as if she had been struck. "Huh?"

"Who do you think you're talking to?" Mima demanded. "I want to teach you, yes. But I am so desperate that I will risk further hard to myself to do so. For all of my strengths, I do not possess vision of the future, and would like to keep my options open. Anything can happen, after all. Furthermore, becoming a magician is all about taking risks. Magic is dangerous, and you will rarely, if ever, have guarantee of safety. It is true, accepting my offer will be incredibly dangerous. I might be lying to you right now. I may kill decide to kill you tomorrow, and there will be nothing you can do about it."

Mary cowered back, her eyes wide with fear.

"But if I _don't," _Mima continued, "if I am true to my word, and if you survive my teaching, because I promise you it will be full of danger, then you will become great. You will be a magician unlike any other, mighty in power and clothed in majesty. They will write entire books trying to decipher the wonders you will create, and your name with be spoken with fear and reverence. And should anyone try to stop you before you are ready, they will have me to contend with. And should someone bring you to harm, I will wreak such vengeance upon them that their name will become a curse and their memory a nightmare. And _that _I do swear, by my name and power."

Mary was still shaking, but a hunger had awoken in her eyes. Mima knew it well. She had lived with that hunger her whole existence. It defined her, and it defined Mary as well. She could see that much.

"Okay," Mary said at last. She let out a nervous laugh. "It ain't like I got anything to lose. But there's something I want to do first."

"Yes."

"I want a new name," Mary said firmly. "If you're not gonna be Morgan anymore, then I don't wanna be Mary. If people are gonna remember me, then I don't wanna be Mary the Magician. I want a name I chose, ze."

Mima smiled. "Fair enough. You wouldn't be the first magician to discard their old identity. Did you have something in mind?"

"Er, not really," Mary admitted. "I thought up a whole bunch, but nothing really seems to fit, ze."

"I see." Mima shrugged. "Well, let's start with the name you have now, and work our way from that." She thought for a moment. "Hmmm, Martha?"

Mary made a face.

"No? Well, how about Madeline?"

This too was rejected.

"Matilda?"

Mary thought for a moment, and then shook her head.

"Maribel, perhaps?" Mima suggested. "MacKenzie? Mabel? Mami? Madira? Marisa? Maven? Ma-"

"Wait, wait, wait," said the child formerly known as Mary. "Marisa?"

"Yes. A fine name, and as far as I know, unclaimed by any magician of note. Would you like to call yourself that?"

"Huh. Mah-riss-ah." The child mused over the name, testing out each syllable in turn. She grinned. "I like it, ze!"

"Excellent," Mima said with a smile. "All hail the rise of Marisa the Magnificent, Master Magician!" Then she floated over to where the Christmas tree still stood. "And while we're on the subject, I have something for you."

"Huh?" Marisa hopped off of her chair and followed. "What d'ya mean?"

"I haven't given you a Christmas present yet, have I? Well, it just so happens I have something lying around that, thanks to certain impulsive actions on my part, I no longer have any use for." Mima retrieved something from under the tree and held it out to her.

It was a wooden stick, two meters in length, adorned by decoration but smooth and polished.

Marisa stared at what was being offered, disbelief written all over her face. "For me?" she stuttered.

"Yes," Mima said. "Surely you have often wondered what it was like to fly?"

Moving with hesitation, Marisa reached out and took the Takenostsue Joukuu. It was quite a bit taller than she was, but she would grow into it.

"Merry Christmas, Marisa," Mima said. She nodded toward the door. "Would you like to try it out?"

"Yes," Marisa said dreamily. Then she blinked. "Oh, wait. I got an idea. Do you have any straw?"

Mima tilted her head in bewilderment, but when Marisa explained, she couldn't help but laugh.

Soon a collection of dried straw was tied to one end of the staff, turning it into a broom. "This is incredibly silly," Mima said as the two of them went outside. "And yet, I cannot fault you."

Marisa grinned. "Hey, if I'm gonna be a witch, I might as well go all the way, right?"

"Exactly so," Mima nodded. "Ready?"

Marisa nodded. Nervously, and yet with great eagerness, she held the broom out and mounted it like a horse. Then, with a deep breath, she pushed off from the ground.

…

_Sorry about being a day late. My laptop's power socket broke, and I had to send it in to get fixed on Tuesday. I've been borrowing computers to get work done ever since, and while it serves, it's just not the same._

_Also, sorry to everyone who expected me to pull a fast one like having Mima go through with the sacrifice and then reveal that Marisa was a completely different person from Mary. But come on. It's a _Christmas _special! I'm not going to kill an innocent kid on Christmas just for the sake of a plot twist! That's the sort of thing Imperfect Metamorphosis is for!_

_Anyway, this concludes the most ambitious Christmas special I've done to date. Not to mention the most ambiguous. Because while Mary (er, Marisa. Whatever) was saved at the end and got her heart's desire, that doesn't change the fact that Mima is, by her own admission, a monster, one that came very close to killing her. And by agreeing to be her student even after all that, Marisa pretty much made a Faustian bargain. Of course, we all know that later on she acquires a bunch of positive role models to offset Mima's bad influence and, despite her temper, brashness, and shaky grasp of ethics, she still remains a decent person at heart. So there's that. But without that knowledge, whether this counts as a happy realization of a dream or a disturbing case of Stockholm Syndrome depends on your point of view. And I'm not going to say anything more either way. _

_But whatever you decide, I hope you enjoyed this short little descent into madness (for me, at least. For reference, it's currently 5:24 AM). And as much as I like this story, I'm glad that I'm going back to one-shots after this. I haven't had a decent night's sleep in days. _

_So yeah. Once again, Merry Christmas, everyone! And happy New Year!_


End file.
